Daily Sports Betting Preview 9/2/2020: US Open, NBA Playoffs, MLS

• Novak Djokovic is a -9.5 game favorite over Kyle Edmund in the US Open.
• The Miami Heat, coming off of a Game 1 victory, are +175 underdogs against the Milwaukee Bucks.
• Inter Miami are struggling, and have +225 underdog odds to Atlanta United.

NEW YORK – Today’s Daily Sports Betting Preview comes on this beautiful Wednesday morning, with sports betting opportunities galore.

First, in the world of tennis, the US Open continues today as Novak Djokovic takes on Kyle Edmund. Then, in the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks face off against the Miami Heat in Game 2 of their series.

Finally, in the MLS, Inter Miami battles against Atlanta United.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

US Open Betting

Novak Djokovic entered the US Open as a massive favorite, favored over the entirety of the field at -130.

Djokovic remains the favorite, and his high profile means that his matches are quite interesting when it comes to spread betting.

For example, today, Djokovic takes on Kyle Edmund

A -9.5 game spread is a serious handicap, even for a player as good as Djokovic, and make no mistake, he’s the best in the world.

Edmund, for his part, is ranked 44th in the world by the ATP rankings, and has one win against Djokovic in six outings.

The moneylines on his matches, of course, are quite fantastical.

Edmund clearly does not pose a challenge to Djokovic on an average day - to see that, one can look at their prior matches, or the odds here.

Edmund has won one of their six prior meetings, however. The question is whether or not that is a representative sample size, or a fluke.

One aspect of this match worth noting - Djokovic is currently unbeaten this year, and is riding a 24-0 match winning streak right now.

This match could be an interesting one in terms of spread betting, and tennis moneyline bettors might enjoy taking a shot at that as well.

NBA Betting

The Milwaukee Bucks might be in trouble. They lost Game 1 to the Miami Heat, as the Heat poured it on offensively, and the Bucks couldn’t keep up.

Jimmy Butler scored 40 points in the Game 1 win, and the Bucks find themselves down 0-1 for the second time in two playoff series’.

The Bucks and the Heat were in two different categories entirely during the regular season. The Bucks were the only team putting up superteam numbers - they had a Net Rating above 9.

The Heat, meanwhile, had a Net Rating of 2.7, a much less impressive number. However, there are a couple good arguments for the Heat in this series.

The Bucks defense gives up three pointers by design, and the Heat have some players who can punish that.

The Bucks had the best defense in the league going into the playoffs, and it was predicated on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez protecting the rim.

This is not to say that the Bucks do not defend three pointers, but their defense is rim focused, not perimeter focused, and that means that they do tend to allow more threes than one might expect.

When that is taken into account, along with the fact that the Heat have an excellent perimeter shooter in Duncan Robinson, and the fact that offenses on the whole have been taking and making more threes in the Bubble, the Heat start to make a lot more sense.

The problem, of course, is that it took 40 points from Jimmy Butler, a playoff career high, in order to defeat the Bucks in Game 1.

There are some genuine advantages the Heat have in this series. Butler is a playoff monster, an every-possession guy who can influence the floor on both ends.

Bam Adebayo is perhaps the best equipped Giannis defender in the league. Duncan Robinson is uniquely suited to exploit the Bucks defense, and shooters in general have been better in the Bubble.

All of that said, the Bucks are still favorites.

The spread on this match is Bucks -5, which reflects that the Bucks were, on average, a much better team than the Heat, but pays the Heat respect as a worthy opponent.

After the loss, the Bucks’ championship odds declined to +400, which is about as low as they’ve been in a very long time.

This is an inflection point in the Bucks season - NBA betting fans can take advantage of that in a lot of different ways.

MLS Betting

Inter Miami and Atlanta United are set to face off in a battle of teams that probably should be doing better than they are.

Inter Miami, notably, are the absolute worst team in the league right now, with a record of 1-6.

One aspect of Inter’s season worth noting is that they have attained all six of their losses by one goal - they’re struggling, but their record is worse than it could otherwise be.

Atlanta United are sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 3-4.

Atlanta United are simply underperforming, and that is something that soccer bettors will have to take into account when wagering on this match.

Atlanta United are favored in this matchup, but they are not favored straight up over all other outcomes.

Inter Miami have +225 odds to win, while a draw sits at +260 odds. In other words, the chances of an Inter win or draw are roughly similar to those of an Atlanta victory.

This should be a compelling matchup for MLS bettors, and soccer betting enthusiasts - the MLS is one of the more high profile leagues currently playing games.

Happy Betting!