What are the best ways to bet on the NBA and NHL playoffs? 105.7 The Fan’s Jeremy Conn recently broke it all down with PressBox.
This has been edited for content and clarity.
PressBox: What are your favorite NBA and NHL futures bets before the playoffs start?
Jeremy Conn: I would say the ones that people feel more confident in are just the series wins, but I like to place a couple of futures and have somebody I like in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference and hope it gets there. But a lot of times I will play those series. We don’t see as many upsets in the NBA, but you can look at some of those games and find value when teams get down in series. … Go down 0-2, go down 0-1, you have less games to try to win but you get these increased odds. Sometimes I’ll take a look at that as well.
PB: Do you prefer betting on the NBA or NHL playoffs?
JC: One of the things we’ve seen is that home ice doesn’t mean as much, or at least it doesn’t feel like it to me, as home court could in the NBA. I prefer the NBA just because that’s been something I’ve followed. You can get a better grip of who’s going to move on. We do see some upsets here and there, but I don’t think as many as we see in the NHL. You get a hot goalie in the NHL, you can ride that for a while.
PB: Are there any trends you’re looking for when betting NHL playoff games, like a hot goalie?
JC: I think that would be the one thing. Most people would tell you that those trends don’t last and sometimes you get in on the right time or you get in too late. I look at things like that as well, or even if the teams have played during the regular season, it doesn’t tell you as much. But you have to kind of pay attention to how they’re shortening their bench, the line changes and everything that happens in the NHL. But you will see teams, especially on the NBA side of things, increase the minutes of the starters going deeper into games.
PB: Heading into the first round of the NBA playoffs, how much stock do you put into the regular season considering stars sit out so much these days?
JC: Mostly zero, because now, especially on the Western Conference side, you look at those four [play-in] teams that are going to be trying to move on for the two spots, it wouldn’t surprise me if those teams came back and eventually won and knocked off the teams above them and moved on to the actual second round of the playoffs. I don’t think you can look a lot at the regular season. I remember the Warriors kind of had the Mavericks’ number one year. This is way, way back, before Steph Curry and all that. You would look at these teams getting into the postseason like, “[The Mavericks are] going to wipe the floor with them.” But wait a minute, they went 0-4 during the regular season. I think there is some merit to that, if a team has kind of just owned another team, but for the most part, it’s really hard to put stock in any of the things you saw in the regular season because the minutes will change.
PB: What is your favorite story from betting on the NBA or NHL playoffs?
JC: My worst one is calling the Rockets’ upset of the Warriors [in 2018]. They go up 3-1 and on the last play of the game, in a meaningless play Chris Paul tears his hamstring, so he can’t play. I end up losing multiple bets and series bets because that happened. I wouldn’t say that’s the best, but that’s just the one that stands out to me and I think [for] any degenerate gambler, it’s always the losses that stand out more than the wins. I would say my favorite for me was when the Mavericks won [in 2011], but I’m a Mavericks fan as well. Sometimes you take a couple bucks and you throw it on your favorite team to start the playoffs or if you’re lucky enough, to start the season and you have a really great sweat throughout the playoffs. That’s what I had that year with the Mavs.
PB: Who are your picks to win it all in the NBA and NHL?
JC: In the NBA, it’s tough because if you wanted to go for a long shot I would tell you the Heat would be your best long shot even though I don’t think they’re going to get there. For me personally, I might lay a couple bucks on the 76ers in the Eastern Conference. Out West, I think it’s a crapshoot. I think you can take one of these lower-odds teams in hopes that they make a run. Everybody’s talking about the Lakers, but I don’t know that they’re going to look the same with LeBron [James’ foot] injury. You’ve got some other teams that got hot at the right time. Maybe this is a year where the Nuggets or the Suns make a run to the championship. I might look there. In the NHL, it’s hard not to like the way that the Rangers are playing right now. That’s a team that could get hot and make a run.
PB: When can listeners hear your picks on “The Big Bad Morning Show” on 105.7 The Fan during the NBA and NHL playoffs?
JC: It’s usually in the 9 o’clock hour, most days at 9:30 [a.m.] unless a guest needs to go there. I asked them to put any discussion on gambling in the 9 o’clock hour just so I have more time for line movement, money to come in and things to look at. It’s usually 9:15, 9:30.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Philadelphia 76ers