The Chicago Bulls paid a visit to Oklahoma City on Monday night to face the Thunder as short favorites, opening at -2 and closing anywhere from -1 to a pick.
With 6:20 to go in the third quarter, Chicago had opened up an 84-56 lead that had many observers turning off the broadcast based on the very reasonable assumption that the outcome, both in terms of who would win and who would cover, was no longer in doubt. The Thunder began chipping away the rest of the way in the third, halving the deficit to 14, but with 5:50 to go in the fourth quarter, the Bulls had pushed their lead to 17 and, surely, they were headed for a win and taking their betting supporters to cover town.
From that point, though, Oklahoma City went on a 22-6 run in order to lose by just one, 111-110, which, in the words of Chris Fowler, was significant to some. The way they got to that final score was particularly hideous for anyone holding a Bulls ticket of -2 or -1.5 (or even -1 to end up pushing a surefire winner), as after a missed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander three to tie, Javonte Green split his free throws to make it a four point game with 1.0 seconds on the clock. A timeout advanced the ball and an uncovered Mike Muscala stepped out to drill a three at the buzzer.
Bulls -1.5 bettors are currently throwing up violently 🤮 pic.twitter.com/BhaYn1gmoT
— Dimers Sports Analytics (@DimersCom) January 25, 2022
It’s some truly hideous stuff for anyone with a Bulls ticket and worthy of a featured spot on Scott Van Pelt’s Bad Beats segment this week. It would be one thing for this to happen in a back-and-forth affair, but to lose that bet after the Bulls led by as many as 28 in the second half and 17 midway through the fourth is the type of thing that makes you go for a long walk.
