Serge Ibaka had no chance to make an impact on Toronto’s huge rally last night to defeat Charlotte, because he’s not with the team yet.
But for bettors who thought his arrival via trade from Orlando would have a huge impact on the Raptors’ odds to win the NBA title, well, nothing happening there either.
On Monday, in the midst of a terrible slump and without Ibaka, they were a 40-1 bet to win the NBA championship and about 12-1 to win the East, per Sportsbook. On Tuesday, in the midst of the same slump but with Ibaka in and Terrence Ross out, the Raptors were still 40-1 and 12-1.
Still, it's big news in Canada and you can bet on Serge Ibaka props, including his OVER/UNDER of blocks per game (1.9) and points per game (13.5) among others. The Raptors have a nine-day break including NBA All-Star Weekend before hosting Boston on February 24.
UFC Halifax – Odds Not Good For Canucks
UFC Fight Night 105 goes down Sunday in Halifax and if the odds are accurate, it will be a tough night cheering for the home fighters, as most are underdogs.
Interestingly, the two Canadians making their UFC debuts are both favored, while the other four are dogs. Undefeated newcomers Alemann Zahabi (-200 vs Brazil’s Reginaldo Vieira) and Gavin Tucker (a surprise -155 fave against veteran Sam Sicilia) are favored.
Mississauga’s Elias Theodorou is a slight +105 underdog to Cezar Ferreira, while Windsor’s Randa Markos is a big dog to former strawweight champ Carla Esparza. Woodbridge’s Alessandro Ricci tries to rebound from a loss in his UFC debut, but he’s more than a 3-1 underdog to Philly’s Paul Felder.
Nordine Taleb is similarly a 3-1 dog to Santiago Ponzinibbio, a name that is fun to say but hard to write. You can see the UFC Fight Night 105 odds here as well as the Fedor Emelianenko Bellator odds for Saturday.
NHL – Three Canadian Underdogs
Four Canadian teams are in action tonight and only one of them is a favorite. Edmonton is significant -160 chalk at home to a struggling Philadelphia Flyers team that plays on the second of back-to-back nights after losing in Calgary last night.
Ottawa is a small underdog at New Jersey, two nights after losing a tough 3-2 decision at home to the Sabres. Winnipeg and Vancouver are getting solid underdog payouts if you think either team can win as a road dog tonight.
The Jets, who have been OVER machines lately (8 of 9), were +200 at Pittsburgh, where the OVER has been a solid play (eight of the past 11 meetings at Pitt). Meanwhile, the Canucks opened at +170 at St. Louis.
GSP Next for Bisping?
Georges St-Pierre’s long-rumored return to the Octagon seems much closer today with reports he has signed a deal. And, of course, speculation arose instantly about who he will fight first, with Sportsbook quickly announcing that phoney middleweight champ Michael Bisping is the Sportsbookting choice at +130.
Bisping has mentioned GSP often as a ‘money fight,’ but GSP (check out the GSP career betting odds history here) would be climbing a weight class from welterweight, where he ruled for many years.
Tidbits (or Tid-bets)
Canada’s Graham DeLaet was listed as a 125-1 long shot in early odds for the Genesis Open in Pacific Palisades, California, for golf bettors out there.
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