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Posted at 11:00 AM EST. Odds are subject to change.

Houston -8½ -110 over L.A. Lakers

NBA Playoff Series Game 3

Lakers lead series 2-0

8:10 PM EST. Let’s forget all the must-win nonsense and all the other filler that bettors love to cling to. None of that matters. Here’s what we know for sure. Los Angeles won the first two games, and they won them in convincing fashion. Houston didn’t put up much resistance in either one. The final scores — 101-94 and 107-98 — suggest competitive games, but anyone who watched them knows the Lakers held comfortable leads throughout. Houston closed as roughly a 5½-point favorite in both contests and never seriously threatened to cover.

Now the series shifts back to Houston, and suddenly the Rockets are laying 8½ points.

That’s the story.

Anybody who backed Houston in the first two games and watched them fall short twice isn’t racing back to the window to lay even more points now. Public bettors remember what they just saw — a team that looked flat, struggled to score, and spent most of the time playing from behind. When the same team that burned them is now asking for a bigger price, the natural reaction is to run the other way.

And that’s exactly what the oddsmakers are counting on.

This number isn’t random. It’s inflated on purpose. It’s designed to make the Lakers look like the obvious side. If L.A. jumps out to another early lead — seven, eight, nine points — the instinct will be to assume the same script is unfolding again. But covering +8½ still requires holding that margin for 48 minutes, and that’s a much taller order than it appears.

Oddsmakers are dangling a carrot, and that carrot has the Lakers’ name written all over it.

Don’t bite. Fade the market. 

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Bet365 Early Payout – How It Works

Straight Bets:

If the team you back to win goes up by the designated number of points at any time during the game, BET365 will pay out your bet in full immediately, even if the opposing team later comes back and wins the game.

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