The Warriors went 2-5 ATS as double-digit favorites last postseason but won and covered as big chalk in Game 1 with Houston Saturday.

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In a NBA season by which the team that picked up 67 wins finished second, there’s going to be a long way between the league’s elite and the remainder of the clubs in contention. That discrepancy in talent makes for large spreads within the early workings of the NBA Playoffs.

Through the primary weekend of postseason play, there were four double-digit favorites, and 3 of these faves have covered the spread. Golden State covered 13 points versus Houston, Oklahoma City covered as 11.5-point chalk against Dallas, and San Antonio gave 17 points to Memphis and simply won by 32 points. The lone loser among double-digit favorites this past weekend was Cleveland, which won but did not cover in a 106-101 victory over Detroit as an 11-point fave. 

Double-digit chalk – especially within the postseason – may also be tough for some basketball bettors to swallow. Playoff games are meant to be competitive, with the highest teams in each conference doing battle in a best-of-seven series. However, in retrospect over the last 14 NBA postseasons (including 2015-16), and double-digit playoff favorites are 48-37-3 ATS – covering over 56 percent of the time – and 81-7 SU.

The hot 3-1 ATS start for large chalk this postseason is contrary to last year, when double-digit NBA favorites finished just 3-7 ATS (9-1 SU). Golden State, the eventual NBA champion, alone was just 2-5 ATS as double-digit chalk within the 2014-15 playoffs. 

Monday’s NBA Playoffs schedule features two more hefty favorites, with the soldiers and Thunder both giving 13.5 points to their respective opponents. And Tuesday has San Antonio laying 18.5 points in Game 2 versus Memphis. Cleveland is sitting at -10 hosting Detroit Wednesday.

Double-digit NBA playoff spreads have also produced interesting trends for totals bettors in addition. Going back to 2002-03, postseason contests with spreads of 10 or more points have finished 39-45-4 Over/Under – a 53.5 lean toward the Under. And during the last three playoffs (including this year), those games with double-digit chalk have gone 3-11-1 Over/Under – 78.5 percent Under. This trend goes against the traditional school of betting thought, that massive faves and Overs go hand-in-hand because of double-digit faves needing to attain numerous points to hide that mountain of chalk. However, it appears stout defense is simply as productive with regards to covering those lofty expectations.

So far, the four NBA playoff games with qualifying spreads are 1-3 Over/Under, with Cleveland-Detroit Game 1 again serving because the exception. The 3 games that did go Under saw betting underdogs score a regular of just 74 points on 34.8 percent shooting with a combined 54 turnovers.

The total for Monday’s Warriors-Rockets game is at 218 while the OKC-Dallas total is listed at 201.5.

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