Sports betting roundup: Big favorites put up big numbers in NBA playoffs

The big favorites in the NBA playoffs all won and covered over the weekend.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (-13.5 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies), Boston Celtics (-13.5 vs. the Orlando Magic) and Cleveland Cavaliers (-12.5 vs. the Miami Heat) all were favored to take the lead in their series at the BetMGM online sportsbook.

The NHL playoffs also got underway while the baseball season had its normal full weekend slate of games and the PGA Tour had another signature event with the RBC Heritage from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The NBA results continued the trend of big favorites covering in the first round of the NBA playoffs. In the last 10 years, double-digit favorites have gone 35-18-1 (66%) against the spread.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-110 in overtime in Game 1 on Saturday. Denver closed as 2.5-point favorites and took in 64% of the bets but only 40% of the money. Despite the game going to overtime, the under of 224.5 hit. When it came to betting, 75% of the money was on the over.

Brett Howden scored an empty-net goal with a tenth of a second left in Vegas’ 4-2 win over Minnesota on Sunday. This was meaningless in terms of the result, but it enabled the over of 5.5 goals to hit. In terms of bets, 63% of them and 47% of the money was on the over.

Minnesota upset the Los Angeles Lakers 117-95 in Saturday’s Game 1. The Lakers were 4.5-point favorites and took in 63% of the bets and 44% of the money in against-the-spread betting. In terms of the moneyline, Minnesota took in only 35% of bets and 9% of the money.

Houston closed as a 1.5-point favorite against Golden State in Sunday’s Game 1 and fell 95-85. The Rockets took in 54% of the bets and 66% of the money in against-the-spread betting.

Justin Thomas won for the first time on the PGA Tour since 2022, beating Andrew Novak on the first playoff hole. Both players finished the tournament at 17-under. Thomas opened the tournament with +2000 odds to win and took in 4.2% of the bets and 6.4% of the money in pre-tournament outright winning betting.

The NFL Draft will get underway Thursday night from Green Bay.

Cameron Ward could be the No. 1 overall pick, with odds of -10000 to hear his name called first. For the No. 2 overall pick, Travis Hunter is the favorite at -1000, while Abdul Carter is -650 to be selected No. 3 overall.

At No. 4, Will Campbell is the odds-on favorite with -650 odds, while No. 5 is a toss-up. Mason Graham is -125, Ashton Jeanty is +200 and Jalon Walker is +650.

This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Justin Thomas waves to the gallery after making a putt on the 18th hole during the final round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi (23) and Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) collide during the third period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, front, pulls in a rebound as Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac defends in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) dunks during the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome (2) gestures to fans in the second half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Boston Celtics' Derrick White (9) drives past Orlando Magic's Gary Harris (14) during the first half in game 1 of a first-round NBA playoff basketball series Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort gestures after making a 3-point basket during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

CHICAGO (AP) — John Hauldren has been a Chicago Cubs fan all his life. During the team’s last homestand, he got a text message from a high school friend. It was the first text he had received from him.

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong had just used “Front to Back” — a song from Hauldren's electronic music group, Levity — as his walkup music in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I was like ‘What? Like, no way,'" Hauldren recalled. “I, like, had to do my research for myself.”

Sure enough, it was true. Hauldren confirmed the authenticity of the moment through a tangential connection to the emerging star.

Crow-Armstrong's girlfriend has a cousin who is friends with the girlfriend of PJ Carberry, another member of Levity.

“My girlfriend, her cousin and her sister actually all just went to go watch them in Arizona,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I had already been talking about making one of their songs my walkout, so I just decided to do it.”

Crow-Armstrong, a 23-year-old Southern California native, also uses Larry June's “Still Boomin” for his walkup song. He said he isn't a big fan of dubstep — the subset of electronic dance music where Levity lands most of the time — but he likes Levity's stuff.

Music is a prominent part of Crow-Armstrong's daily routine, and he enjoys the process of picking a walkup song.

“Music’s the best thing ever. I mean, literally, universally, it is the best thing ever,” he said.

Hauldren, 26, has a similar opinion when it comes to Crow-Armstrong’s baseball team. Hauldren is the youngest of four siblings in a White Sox family from suburban Chicago. He grew up going to White Sox games on the South Side.

But he was always a Cubs fan.

“It just kind of stuck, and a lot of my friends were Cubs fans, too,” he said. “So thankfully my dad would suck up his pride or whatever you would call it and take me to a Cubs game every once in a while.”

The beginning of Levity goes back to Hauldren and Carberry connecting at the University of Iowa in 2017. They met Josh Tarum through mutual friends, and they started making music together.

Hauldren and Carberry live in Chicago, and Hauldren worked on much of “Front to Back” at their place in Bucktown — not far from Wrigley Field.

“My window is the skyline of Chicago and stuff,” Hauldren said. “And so seeing that song get played at Wrigley Field when it was made watching the skyline of Chicago and being very close to Wrigley Field was just insane to me.”

After Crow-Armstrong used the song as his walkup music, Hauldren posted on Instagram about how much it meant to him. He tagged Crow-Armstrong in the post, and the two talked. They are hoping to meet up at some point.

Levity played Coachella this year, and it is going to Lollapalooza this summer in Chicago's Grant Park. But Hauldren said his connection with Crow-Armstrong ranks right up there when it comes to his most memorable experiences with his group.

“I’m just very happy that if someone ever plays a walkout song for us, that it was the Cubs,” he said. “Like I couldn’t be happier that, you know, of all the teams that it was my team.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong watches his sacrifice bunt that scored Darby Swanson during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, April 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong hits a one-run double during the second inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Chicago, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)