Toronto Raptors' Pascal Siakam (43) passes the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves' Nickeil Alexander-Walker (9) defends during first half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. The NBA regular season has begun and Proline bettors have plenty of optimism regarding the Raptors' fortunes this year.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
TORONTO – The NBA regular season has begun and Proline bettors have plenty of optimism regarding the Toronto Raptors this year.
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., over 95 per cent of money is on the Raptors over 36.5 regular-season wins. Last year, Toronto finished with a 41-41 record before losing to the Chicago Bulls 109-105 in their single elimination play-in game.
Toronto opened its season with a 97-94 home win over Minnesota on Wednesday.
The Milwaukee Bucks is the bettors’ top choice to win the NBA title, followed by Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Golden State.
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is the NBA’s defending MVP but Dallas star Luka Doncic is the betting favourite for this year’s crown. The others include: Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a star guard for Oklahoma City.
Raptors guard Gradey Dick is listed as the third choice for the top rookie award. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren are listed ahead of Dick with Portland’s Scoot Henderson and Detroit’s Ausar Thompson rounding out the top five.
In the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings earned a 22-17 upset win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. Twenty-four per cent of money correctly took the Vikings to win on the moneyline but 77 per cent of money was on San Fancisco winning by 6.5 or more points.
And only 12 per cent of bettors correctly picked the under 41.5 total points.
On Sunday, Philadelphia downed the Miami Dolphins 31 -17, delighting the 42 per cent that had the Eagles on the moneyline. And 38 per cent of bettors correctly had Eagles winning by 3.5 or more points but only 20 per cent had the under 53.5 total points.
A whopping 83 per cent, though, had Kansas City winning on its moneyline. The Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 31-17.
Over 90 per cent had the game going over 45.5 total points and 83 per cent had Kansas City winning by 4.5 or more points.
The top five events of the week were all NFL games with Minnesota-San Francisco, Miami-Philadelphia and L.A.-Kansas City holding down the first three spots. Jacksonville’s J31-24 win over New Orleans and New England’s 29-25 upset win over Buffalo were the other two.
On Monday night, the Texas Rangers advanced to the World Series with an 11-4 victory over Houston Astros. Just 48 per cent correctly picked the Rangers but 72 per cent of wagers correctly had the over 8.5 total runs.
However, just nine per cent correctly had Max Scherzer recording less than 4.5 strikeouts.
A Proline customer received a $2,945 payout from a $5 bet on a seven-leg NFL moneyline parlay. Another earned $9,269 from $20 bet placed on an eight-leg MLS soccer parlay while a third took home an $11,335 payout after putting $24 down on an eight-leg NHL parlay.
Another customer received $12,945 from a $100 wager on a five-leg NFL moneyline parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2023.
