Betting the 2020-2021 NBA season has been a roller coaster. So far, 28 out of the 30 teams in the league have recorded a three game winning streak at one point proving there are no easy wins on the schedule for any team.
Because the competition in the league has been at the highest level we've seen in the NBA in years, we've seen some absurd upsets and final scores.
As Vegas does their best to keep up with a season that's been difficult to predict, bettors have been burned several times by crazy outings in which their bet was cooked by halftime.
Here's a look at the three worst bets that could've been placed this season.
December 27th, 2020: Los Angeles Clippers -3
The Los Angeles Clippers were coming off two dominant victories to start the NBA season. Just days prior to their matchup against the Mavericks, the Clips had defeated the hometown rival Lakers and crushed the Denver Nuggets. Most figured Los Angeles would, at the very least, keep it close with the Mavericks.
Even after it was announced that Kawhi Leonard would miss his first game of the season the Clippers were three point favorites, and -140 on the moneyline.
The Mavericks proceeded to stroll in to Staples Center and put one of the biggest beatdowns of the season on a legitimate championship contender while putting the rest of the NBA on notice.
The game was pretty much over in the first quarter, as Dallas outscored Los Angeles 36-13 in the first 12 minutes. Any hope that Clippers bettors held was crushed in the second, when the Mavs outscored Los Angeles by a whopping 27 points to take a 50 point lead at half.
The Clippers shot a miserable 4/33 from deep, their worst three-point shooting night of the year. Luka Doncic only needed 26 minutes of playing time to record a near triple-double of 24 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.
To show how much of an anomaly this game was, the Clippers would win the next matchup against the Mavs by 10 points, completing a 61 point swing.
December 27th, 2020: Milwaukee Bucks -13
Bizarrely, two of the worst bets of the season so far came on the same night in the NBA.
After the Mavericks were done completing their win, the Bucks had traveled to New York to take on a Knicks team that had lost each of their first two games by double-digits.
The Bucks entered coming off a 39 point win over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Milwaukee had all three of their stars in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton healthy and ready to go.
Vegas set the line at 13 points in the Bucks favor, and -1100 on the moneyline. This had all the signs of an incoming blowout.
And it was. Just not for the Bucks.
The Knicks won the first quarter 30-27 and never looked back. By halftime New York had a 16 point lead, and everyone who took the Milwaukee spread was out of luck.
Still, anyone who had dared to put money on the Bucks moneyline with the steep chalk still had a ray of hope. But the Knicks never let up, scoring 130 points in the game and winning by a final score of 130-110. The 130 point outing was the Knicks highest of their NBA season.
The Bucks would win their next matchup against the Knicks by 33 points, completing the 53 point swing.
April 2nd, 2021: Golden State Warriors +5
Perhaps the most memorable blowout of the 2020-'21 season so far was the Golden State Warriors loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Golden State entered the game playing without Stephen Curry, but Vegas still set the line at a respectable five points in Toronto's favor.
No one could have predicted the massacre that would happen next.
The Raptors absolutely dominated the Warriors in every facet of the game. At one point, Toronto was up by 60 points.
Steve Kerr's group actually hung around for the first quarter, only losing the first period by a single point. The next three quarters contained some of the most lopsided basketball in NBA history.
Golden State was outscored 107-51 in quarters 2-4, and the Raptors got their biggest win in franchise history.
Interestingly enough, the public actually favored the Warriors to cover this game. 64% of the public money was on Golden State to cover the spread, easily making this the worst bet of the NBA season.
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