Mavericks Even NBA Finals at Two Games Apiece, Who’s the Favorite to Win it all Now?

The Dallas Mavericks evened their 2011 NBA Finals series against the Miami Heat at two games apiece by beating their Eastern Conference rivals 86-83 on Tuesday night. Now, NBA gamblers everywhere need to know just one thing.

Which team is going to walk away with this season’s Larry O’Brien Trophy?

Fear not pro basketball roundball bettors, if you’ve got questions, then I’ve got answers.

To Win NBA Championship
Dallas Mavericks +190
Miami Heat -240

The Heat (72-29 SU, 52-47-2 ATS, 50-49-2 O/U) and Mavericks (71-30 SU, 57-40-4 ATS, 55-44-2 O/U) have alternated SU wins and losses over the first tour games with Miami winning Games 1 and 3 while Dallas took home the bacon in Games 2 and 4.

While the Mavs picked up a quality win that kept them in this series on Tuesday night, they have also failed to cash in for betting backers consistently in this series and played out as a Push against the NBA Finals Odds as a 3-point home favorite in Tuesday’s 86-83 win.

Dallas is now 1-2-1 ATS in four Finals games against Miami as they get set for Thursday night’s Game 5 matchup at 9:00 PM ET.

The bad news for betting backers that like Dallas is the fact that the Mavericks have gone just 0-3-1 ATS in their L/4 home playoff games and will have two of the remaining three Finals games on their home floor should the series got the full seven games.

Another troubling fact for Dallas betting backers is the fact that the Mavs have recorded both of their Finals wins by three points or less while Miami has recorded one win by just a basket, but another victory by eight points.

To make a long NBA Finals story short – and put devoted NBA gamblers on the right path to a winning NBA Finals Futures Odds wager – not only do the Miami Heat have home court advantage in their favor, but they’ve clearly got the best player on either team in superstar shooting guard Dwyane Wade who has unequivocally taken the leadership reins from LeBron James.

While I initially liked the Mavericks to win this series, based on the fact that they are the deeper, more experienced team, it’s become very evident through four games that the Mavs just don’t have the brass balls that are needed to beat out Wade, LeBron and a very good all-star player in Chris Bosh, (no matter how soft he can be).

Dallas has really struggled offensively in this series – mostly because Miami’s stellar defense has put the clamps on everyone but Dirk Nowitzki (thanks Jason Terry). The Mavericks always seem to be playing catch-up in this series – and that’s just not a real good way to go about winning games.

Dwayne Wade’s play has been nothing short of jaw-dropping and his ability to close out games is unparalleled, not only in this series, but likely, league-wide.

I’m an ‘old-school’ guy that doesn’t want to see Miami – or punk-ass LeBron James – win the title in their very first year together, but the fact of the matter is that they are going to win it all, no matter how much we ‘hate’ on them.

I like Dallas to win Game 5, before the Heat head home to wins the final two games and hoist their first NBA Title together after forming their ‘super team’ …. uuuugh!