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Morning Coffee: Jokic, Murray make history in Game 3 of NBA Finals
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Sometimes a wager looks too good to be true.
That was the case for me when I saw the Denver Nuggets open -1.5 for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at FanDuel on Sunday night.
I jumped on that number immediately and didn’t waste any time making Nuggets -1.5 a FanDuel Best Bet in this column on Monday morning.
Anyone who tailed cashed that bet with me last night as Denver cruised to a 109-94 win over the Miami Heat.
The Nuggets closed -3.5 / -162 on the money line at FanDuel.
Now here we are this morning and I’m staring at Denver to win Game 4 at -154 on the money line at FanDuel.
Once again, I’m locking in the Nuggets with a FanDuel Best Bet with plenty of time to spare before Friday night’s contest.
This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday, June 8, 2023.
Jokic, Murray make history in Game 3 of NBA Finals
There was a lot of talk about how the Nuggets would react after head coach Mike Malone called out his team for a lack of focus and urgency in their Game 2 loss.
Their two biggest stars responded by doing something that has never been done in NBA history.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray became the first pair of teammates with triple-doubles in the same game in NBA history, regular season or playoffs.
Jokic recorded the first 30-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist game in NBA Finals history.
He’s now the overwhelming favourite to win NBA Finals MVP at FanDuel at -1150 odds.
Meanwhile, Murray delivered his first-career postseason triple-double with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
He’s recorded exactly 10 assists in each of the first three games, becoming the first player in Finals history with 10+ assists in each of his first three career NBA Finals games.
For as impressive as the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals has been, they’ve never been in this position before.
Heading into Game 3, the most likely series outcome based on FanDuel’s odds was Denver to win it in seven.
As of this morning, the most likely scenario based on FanDuel’s odds is the Nuggets to win in five at -115.
Denver opened -4 for Game 4 at FanDuel, but that number is already down to -3.5, the same number they closed at for Game 3.
The Nuggets are -152 to win Game 4 straight up.
While Jokic and Murray dominated, we didn’t see much else from their teammates outside of Christian Braun, who scored 15 points off the bench.
Michael Porter Jr. finished with two points in 21 minutes. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored six points on 1-of-4 from the field in 28 minutes.
Miami will have a tough time slowing down Jokic and Murray in Game 4, and if Denver’s role players can give them anything, the Heat could be in tough again.
All things considered, I don’t mind laying the juice with the Nuggets to win Game 4.
If you think that Miami will come out on fire to start Friday night’s game, then you might want to hold off for a better number.
However, for the purposes of this column, I’m locking in Denver at -152 on the money line as my early FanDuel Best Bet for Game 4.
Will the Panthers respond on home ice?
After a remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers find themselves with their backs against the wall entering Game 3.
Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win it all 91 per cent of the time.
Teams with a 3-0 lead have gone on to win it 97 per cent of the time.
The Vegas Golden Knights are -550 to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel this morning. Florida is currently +420 to win it all.
Will we see a response from the Panthers on home ice tonight?
Florida opened -114 to win Game 3 at FanDuel and touched -126 before settling at the current number at -118 on the money line.
Meanwhile, the over has hit in each of the first two games of the series, thanks in large part to the fact that Vegas has tied the record for the most goals in the first two games of a Stanley Cup Final with 12.
The total is currently set at over/under 5.5 goals for tonight’s game, but it’s heavily juiced to the over at -140.
Adin Hill has held Florida to two goals in each of the first two games of the series.
If the Panthers are going to claw their way back into the series, they will more than likely need to figure out a way to solve Hill for more than two goals tonight.
Lions, Stampeders set to open 2023 CFL season
The BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders will kick off the 2023 CFL season tonight on TSN.
The Stampeders are currently a 3.5-point favourite for tonight’s opener at FanDuel.
The total is currently set at over/under 50.5 points.
In case you missed it, TSN aired the first CFL Betting Preview Show in network history on Tuesday night.
You can watch the entire CFL on TSN Betting Preview Show powered by FanDuel clicking the link above.
A major shout-out to everyone that worked so hard to bring this show to life.
It’s a great watch for CFL fans and any bettor who is looking for an edge heading into a new season.
A FanDuel Best Bet for Thursday night
As I highlighted in Wednesday’s column, sometimes the toughest part of this job is determining which bet to classify as the “FanDuel Best Bet” each morning.
On Wednesday, I gave out the Nuggets -1.5 and the Miami Marlins ML at -158.
We cashed both of those wagers to make it three winners in a row with the FanDuel Best Bets in this column.
Let’s keep it going with another winner this morning. I’m going to stick with the Atlanta Braves ML as my FanDuel Best Bet.
Yes, it’s been juiced up a bit since I locked it in at FanDuel at -172, but I’ve let price changes alter my approach in this column before and it’s burned me, so I’m sticking with the Braves on the money line.
If you don’t like the juice, you could pair Atlanta ML with Ronald Acuna Jr. to record a hit at -110 odds at FanDuel.
As far as a FanDuel Best Bet is concerned, I’m fading Justin Verlander again in this column and hoping that the Braves can stay hot with a win this evening.