The Hawks tied a franchise record by winning their 14th consecutive game on Wednesday night. That's impressive.
The Hawks also covered the Las Vegas point spread for the 14th consecutive time with the 110-91 victory over the underdog Pacers. That's incredible.
For the season, the Hawks are 32-11 against the spread, the best mark by far in the NBA. Someone who bet $10 on the Hawks in all 43 games this season would now show a profit of $199.
The Hawks opened as 40-to-1 favorites to win the NBA championship. They are now the fourth choice at 7-to-1.
(I offer this information as a fun topic of conversation, not an endorsement of gambling.)
The Hawks were favored in 12 of the 14 games during their winning streak. They won at the Blazers and the Clippers as underdogs. The Hawks covered 10 ½ points at Philadelphia with three starters resting. The next night they covered 5 ½ points at Boston with two starters sitting.
The Hawks closed as 10 ½-point favorites against the Pacers, a big line in the NBA even for good teams playing at home against bad opponents. They still covered easily.
That the Hawks keep covering the betting lines suggests the bookmakers and the public are having a hard time getting a handle on them from game to game.
It’s not true that bookmakers simply aim to balance the wagers on either side of a bet and settle for the five percent profit from the commission on losing bets. For one, bookmakers can’t always persuade the public to bet on one side even with multiple line moves. For another, the house will accept or even induce a betting imbalance if it believes it is on the right side of the bet and has a good chance of making more than five percent.
So far, backing the Hawks has been a very good bet for gamblers.
