I'll clarify: I've never seen a sportsbook cut off live bets and give 100% victory odds to one team when it was only midway through the 3rd quarter of a crucial playoff game near the end of the championship tournament.
That is exactly what is happening right now though in the Eastern Conference semi-finals as the Knicks are absolutely demolishing the Celtics in a game that is going to send the Celtics packing back to Boston for the off-season.
As I write this, the Knicks are ahead by 40 points and I don't think that Boston is even going to bother to try anymore. The first quarter was competitive, with certain moments appearing as though the Celtics (my team, by the way) were going to go on a run, but all that noise got squashed in the 2nd where there was an extremely one-sided game going on.
ALthough it isn't a rule or anything, often, when you see two closely ranked teams go into a game where it is 3 game to 2 in a best of 7 series, the team that is down a game will put on their best game of the season and push for game 7 but that really hasn't been the case with Boston in this game at all. When you go into the locker room down nearly 20 points at halftime I think it is really tough to rally the troops, even if your troops are all millionaires who are considered the best in the world at what they do. In basketball, getting 20 points back is extremely rare. It has only happened once in the playoffs so far and I include all teams in this mix. When you go down 40 points though this has literally NEVER happened in the NBA with any team, ever.
So Boston is just cruising right now and I don't think they will even bother to use their time outs strategically towards the end of the 4th. It's over, it was over in the 2nd quarter I think. I suppose the idea was to rally a bit in the 3rd but when that failed to materialize I think the Celtic stars just kind of started sitting on their hands and aren't really even pushing right now. I suppose that is all great for the Knicks fans (the game is taking place in Madison Square Garden) but I am sure all the Boston fans headed towards the exits 20 minutes ago already.
oh well, I don't think that Boston really had a chance at the final anyway and the Knicks have been a downtrodden team for decades, so I am happy to see them in this position. As long as it is anyone but the Lakers (who were eliminated in the first round) I'm happy to see any of the remaining teams go on to victory.
Well done Knicks, good luck against a surprisingly strong Indiana Pacers!