What a difference a week makes for the Knicks.
Before they took the town by storm, and fans celebrated a 3-1 series lead over the Celtics on Seventh Avenue, they opened the Eastern Conference semifinals with the worst odds of the four teams.
After winning two in Boston and grabbing Game 4 on Monday, the Knicks have moved from 14/1 to win the East and down to +120 at BetMGM, the best odds of any team left in the field.
The Celtics, who are down 3-1 in the series and may be without Jayson Tatum, now have the worst odds of the remaining field, coming in at +850 after being -155 to win the East just last week.
The Knicks entered Game 4 with +550 odds, and the move down to +120 surely has a lot to do with Tatum’s uncertain status.
Tatum suffered what some fear could be an Achilles injury during the 121-113 loss, which would end his season and potentially next year as well if the worst-case scenario is realized.
To be fair, the Knicks were leading 113-104 with 2:58 remaining when Tatum went down with an injury. So perhaps the odds wouldn’t be affected too much by the injury.
Regardless, this is a massive turnaround considering the Knicks were 60/1 to win the NBA Finals at the start of this series, which is even higher than they were preseason (16/1).
These odds would imply that the Knicks will be favored to beat the Pacers or Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
Indiana is leading that series, 3-1, entering Tuesday’s Game 5, but is just +200 to win the East.
Tom Thibodeau’s group has plummeted down to +550 odds to win the title, the second-best odds to win the championship behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder (+100).
The Timberwolves, who also own a 3-1 edge, sit with +600 odds.
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The Knicks had previously received nearly no betting interest in this series or all season long, having just received 3.4 percent of the NBA Finals betting handle at BetMGM.
Even with the odds favoring them, the Knicks still have to close out the defending champions.
The series shifts to Boston on Wednesday for Game 5, where the Celtics, in an attempt to extend this series and likely without their best player, are small 4.5-point favorites.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.
