Sportsbook night of the 2019-20 NBA season kicks off on Tuesday and will feature LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to Odds Shark’s database since 1993, both he and the Lakers have a winning history when tabbed as one of the season debut teams. The Lakers are 15-5 SU and 13-7 ATS when featured on Sportsbook night while LeBron-led teams are 5-4 SU and 6-3 ATS in his nine career games in this spot.
How LeBron and His Teams Perform on Sportsbook Night
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has already had a storied NBA career and has been featured on the Sportsbook night of the NBA season nine times in his 17 years in the league.
Although his teams are 6-3 ATS in those nine games, it hasn’t always been a cakewalk when they were tabbed as a favorite. In four games when laying points, his teams are 1-3 ATS. They’re currently favored by 2 points at home vs the Clippers.
What’s interesting about these betting records is those LeBron-led teams weren’t the main draw for the NBA’s Sportsbook night until 2009, which is after he won his first Most Valuable Player trophy with the Cavaliers.
Statistically, LeBron shows up to hoop as he’s averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 assists and 8.7 rebounds for Sportsbook night games to go with three triple-doubles.
How Faves Do Historically On Sportsbook Night
The historical records for Sportsbook night of the NBA season show that favorites win outright quite often but fall short in covering the spread.
In 162 games since 1993 in Odds Shark’s database, favorites are 110-52 SU (67.9 percent) but only covered the spread 49.4 percent of the time at 79-81-2.
For more recent results, that trend remains the same. In the last 10 years, favorites are 23-8 SU (74.2 percent) and 14-17 ATS (45.2 percent) in 31 games. In the last five years, favorites are 10-3 SU (76.9 percent) but 6-7 ATS (46.2 percent).
UNDERs Have The Edge For Sportsbook Night
Bettors tend to look at the Sportsbook night of the NBA and how to approach favorites and underdogs for spreads but the best edge historically has been with totals.
In those 162 games since 1993 in Odds Shark’s database, the UNDER has hit in 100 of those games for a 61.3 percent success rate.
Recent results for Sportsbook night in the NBA have also yielded much of the same success for UNDER bettors. In the last 10 years, the UNDER has hit in 19 of 31 games (61.3 percent), and in the last five years, the UNDER hit in nine of 13 games (69.2 percent).
It’s worth noting that the UNDER has also hit in three of the last four games with LeBron-led teams on Sportsbook night.
