Massive Nets Upset

The Brooklyn Basketball Nets just pulled off a massive upset. Huge. The Nets just covered an 18.5 point spread against the best team in the league. This happens to be the biggest upset in the NBA in the last 25 or so years.

Full disclosure: I am an actual Nets fan. No, not when they moved to Brooklyn. No, before Kidd, Kittles and Kmart. Yes, the Chris Morris / Derrick Coleman era. That’s a story for another time.

Now, as unlikely as it was that they beat the Bucks outright (my book didn’t even offer a money line on the game), it still can’t be overstated the type of upset this was. Simply covering +18.5 would have been sufficient. The Nets won a game where they suited up 40-year old Jamal Crawford and saw significant minutes from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. They won a game outright against the presumptive two time MVP – Giannis. Wild.

This is an important lesson. There is always a number where the line makes sense. Yes, this Nets team is horrible and not suiting up KD and Kyrie but the spread is the great equalizer. While the Bucks probably were not focused on this team and readying themselves for the playoffs, you couldn’t seriously lay 18.5. What’s the Bucks motivation? If I was an alien from outerspace and saw this line and knew nothing about either team, I’m playing the dog. With that said, there’s an angle here. If things stay as they are and the Bucks end up playing the Nets in the playoffs, I’m taking anything better than a -125 for the Bucks to win that series 4-0. It says a lot about how bad the Nets are that I expect a 4-0 sweep to be priced at a minus number. Either way, I expect the Bucks to get their revenge for this minor hiccup.