NBA Finals Betting Line
Game one of the 2011 NBA Finals is set to play on Tuesday, May 31st at 9pm ET. The game will be televised nationally on ABC. This is an exciting matchup, with the highly disliked Miami Heat vs the one that many would like to see with a championship ring, Dirk Nowitzki. Adding more fun to it all will be Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sitting in the stands, sure to cause some sort of controversy during the series.
The table below will be updated for every game of the series. It is also posted on our NBA betting lines page.
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2011 NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks
The Miami Heat come into the series as the favorite, at -170 at the Bodog Sportsbook. The Dallas Mavericks are the dogs at +150. If you’re interested in placing a bet, Bodog accepts U.S. customers. If you don’t know how to bet on NBA basketball, we have a guide on the left side of this site.
While the Dallas Mavericks won the season series 2-0, none of that matters now. The Heat are a different (better) team, and the Mavericks will have to take it to the next level if they want to win. With that said, the pressure is all on the Heat. Anything less than the Final victory will be considered a disappointment.
While the Mavericks get to come in as the underdogs, there’s a level of pressure on them as well. It might be hard to say who wants the ring more, Dirk Nowitzki or Mark Cuban. It will be important for Cuban to keep his mouth shut during the series, allowing the players to focus on nothing except basketball. If the Mavericks lose a close game and Cuban makes controversial public statements, he could help the wheels fall off.
Both teams are tough to defend, but Miami has to be given the edge here. While the Mav’s have weapons aside from Dirk, they’re easier to defend than the trio of James, Wade & Bosh. If the Heat double-team Dirk, he’ll kick it out out to guys like Jason Terry. If they don’t, Nowitzki will get knock down fadeaways like he has for the entire 2011 NBA Playoffs. Dirk will create his own shots no matter what, but how easy will the Heat make it for him?
I see the 2011 NBA Finals going 6-7 games. I don’t think we’ll see a blowout here, and either team could win it. This is one of those interesting matchups where certain aspects of the game won’t be answered until they play. While every series comes down to adjustments, this one could go a couple levels deeper. If the Heat adjust to X, can the Mavericks identify and adjust to that quickly enough? How does Miami react to that new adjustment? We could see every game played differently by each team, and that’s what makes this series so compelling.
Most sports betting websites are picking the Miami Heat to win, but the Mavericks find a way to get the job done.
2011 NBA Finals Free Prediction
I’m slightly leaning to the Heat in this series, but I don’t like them at -170. At +150, I think the Mavericks offer better value. I’ll be taking the Dallas Mavericks +150 at the Bodog Sportsbook.
