Daily Sports Betting Preview 8/26/2020: NHL Playoffs, WTA Cincinnati, NBA Playoffs

• The New York Islanders have -105 odds to beat the Philadelphia Flyers but are still mild underdogs.
• The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins are deadlocked, and both teams have -110 odds to win today.
• Naomi Osaka is -210 to defeat Anett Kontaveit, who is ranked 10 slots below her by the WTA.

LAS VEGAS – Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Sports Betting Preview is looking like a great one.

First, in the NHL Playoffs, there are three great games worth touching. Then, ATP Cincinnati continues with some excellent tennis betting opportunities.

Finally, the Preview checks in with the NBA Playoffs, as the Orlando Magic face off against the Milwaukee Bucks. There’s a lot to cover, as always, so let’s get started!

NHL Playoffs

The NHL Playoffs bring a full three separate games to the table today, so NHL bettors can wager on playoff games for most of the day.

The first matchup starts at 3:00 p.m. EST and features the New York Islanders facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The New York Islanders’ run of good form continued in Game 1 of this series, as they took the win, and are now up a game on the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Islanders are once again underdogs in this matchup, but by slightly less than they were in Game 1, which makes sense given their performance. Remember, the Islanders were underdogs all through the previous series against the Washington Capitals.

It remains to be seen if they can pull off that kind of run again, but they’ve clearly demonstrated an ability to beat teams that are better than they are on paper.

After this game wraps up, there will be a bit of a break for NHL betting followers, and then the next game starts at 8:00 p.m. EST.

These two teams were the best in the NHL during the regular season, and have split the opening two games. It makes sense why sportsbooks are having trouble differentiating the two - they’re both immense, and it’s hard to see one having a true advantage over the other.

This is a can’t-miss matchup in a can’t-miss series, and it will determine who has an advantage going into Game 4.

Once that one is done, there’s one last matchup of the day, and it starts at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Once again, the Avs are moneyline favorites, just like in the first two games - games that they lost. Dallas is up 2-0 in the series, but the sportsbooks seem to just not trust them to continue this pattern.

Is this a series where Dallas bettors get to laugh all the way to the bank? Or will the two teams start to even out after a wild first two games?

NHL bettors will have to wait and see.

WTA Cincinnati

WTA Cincinnati continues today, and there’s a great matchup on the table in the quarterfinals for tennis betting players to take a look at.

At this point, Naomi Osaka needs no introduction. The young star has become one of the best players on the WTA Tour and is a clear favorite in this matchup.

Anett Kontaveit, by contrast, is a bit less well known by the general public.

This should not put anyone off of wagering on here - she’s currently ranked 20th in the world by the WTA and is not far removed from a finals appearance at WTA Palermo.

Osaka ranked 10, is a deserving favorite in this matchup, but it looks like it should be a great one regardless. The spread favors Osaka by 3.5 games, which seems about right when looking at what the moneyline is set at and the respective players.

Depending on the sportsbook being used, the spread and the moneyline can vary. For example, when this article began, the spread was Osaka -3, but by the time it was done, the spread changed to favor Osaka by 3.5.

Regardless, this looks to be a great matchup, and it kicks off at 1:00 p.m. EST.

NBA Betting

The Milwaukee Bucks were never seriously counted out of this series. Even after their Game 1 drubbing at the hands of the Orlando Magic, the Bucks were -6000 to win the series.

This is contrasted with the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference, who also lost Game 1 of their 1-vs-8 series. The Lakers entered Game 2 as -210 favorites to win the series, a sharp difference from the Bucks.

It seems the sportsbooks were right about the Bucks, and perhaps should have given the Lakers longer odds.

The Bucks have dominated after losing Game 1, and are looking to close the series out Wednesday as they face the Magic (hopefully) one last time.

The Magic simply do not have the talent to mount a serious, consistent challenge to the Bucks, but they did manage to win that first game, so they cannot be fully underestimated.

That said, the spread on this game is tough for any Magic fan to see.

The Bucks are huge favorites, and the Magic aren’t anywhere close. 14 points seem like a lot, and it is, but there’s some necessary context here. During the regular season, the Bucks had an average margin of victory around 10 points.

A spread of 14 is saying that the Bucks will win this matchup by more than their normal margin of victory, but it’s not as crazy as it seems to be.

This matchup should be very interesting for people who bet on the spread here - the Bucks will probably win, but 14 points is a bit of an ask. NBA bettors might have their hands full with this matchup!

Happy betting!