Did you hear the news on Monday? The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting is unconstitutional. The Court ruled in favor of New Jersey. Look for the floodgates to open for other states to allow sports betting.
While individual states will still have to decide how and whether to regulate sports gambling, the decision means that sports gambling will be coming soon to many locations in America.
There is still going to be a lot of red tape to cut through as this winds up being a state-by-state thing as opposed to federally regulated. Some states, including New Jersey, Indiana, and West Virginia are close to being ready to open betting locations. I read that the before-mentioned states may be ready to go by the start of the NFL season. No more illegal local bookies. Possibly fewer trips to Vegas. It will soon be much easier for the casual sports bettor to wager on sports. We will also soon learn the ramifications of this fact.
Cavaliers Are In Trouble
Speaking of betting, I sure am glad I have not made any wagers of late on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Two weeks ago in these pages, I wrote how LeBron James was tiring and that Cleveland may struggle with the Toronto Raptures in the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
James and the Cavs proceeded to sweep Toronto in four straight.
Last week in these pages I stated that the Cavaliers are peaking at the right time and could cruise right through the Boston Celtics. Again, I sure am glad all I am doing is writing about these games and not wagering on them.
The Celtics took a 2-0 series lead Tuesday night with another convincing win over Cleveland.
Despite a 40-point triple-double from LeBron, Boston pulled away in the second half to claim a 107-94 victory over the Cavs. Game Three will be on Saturday.
For the next four days, the talk will focus almost exclusively on how Cleveland fell apart after halftime on Tuesday. The Cavs, powered by 21 points by James in the first quarter, had a double-digit lead late in the first half.
The Celtics’ youth and athleticism took over in the second half as they outscored Cleveland, 59-39, in the second half.
The Cavaliers got 40 points from James, though he only took nine shots in the second half, and 22 points from Kevin Love. The rest of the Cavaliers combined to go for 30 points on 12-for-33 shooting. In other words, Boston is running too many athletes at the older Cav’s squad.
Conversely, the Celtics had six players in double figures, led by 23 points from Jaylen Brown. Boston has yet to lose at home in these playoffs, with an 8-0 record so far. It holds the home court advantage which means Cleveland has to win at home this upcoming Saturday and Monday before pulling out a game in Beantown.
It would be easy to say that is not going to happen. But the Cavs do have LeBron James. And he has proven me wrong week after week thus far in the playoffs.
The one and only LeBron James
