NBA bettor misses $1 million payday due to Knicks-Pistons bad beat
Pistons coach Monty Williams isn’t the only one who is furious with the ending of Detroit’s controversial 113-111 loss to the Knicks on Monday.
“Million Dollar” Marco Piemonte claims he would’ve would’ve won $1 million on the game had the Pistons pulled the upset.
Piemonte on Instagram, one a $90,000 bet on the Pistons moneyline with +900 odds and the other for $110,000 on the Pistons +14.5 (-120 odds) with the caption “$1,000,000 WINNER taken away from me,” on the Instagram video of the game’s dramatic ending.
The moneyline wager would’ve paid out $810,000 had the referees not swallowed their whistle on a Donte DiVincenzo hit on Ausar Thompson that led to a steal with eight seconds remaining in the game.
The steal set up Josh Hart’s go-ahead score that gave the Knicks the lead with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Piemonte’s spread wager was a winner, profiting $91,666.66, leaving him with a total profit of just $1,666.66, but those winnings are pennies compared to the $901,666.66 he stood to win with a little bit of officiating luck.
Adding insult to injury, the refs postgame agreed that this was indeed a bad call and a foul should have been assessed on DiVincenzo for sliding at Thompson’s legs. T
The Knicks’ win over the Pistons was a much-needed one for Tom Thibodeau’s group, as the Knicks had won just two of their last eight games enter Monday.
Over the course of the regular season, the Knicks had the fifth-best net rating in the NBA at 4.6, ahead of the title-defending Nuggets and the contending Clippers.
But in their last 10, things have gone stale thanks to a glutiny of injuries.
The Knicks are 23rd in net rating in the month of February, coming in with a -5.3 net rating, behind the Detroit Pistons and tanking Utah Jazz.
Piemonte is a notorious gambler who also recently released a bet on the Tennessee Volunteers to win the NCAA Men’s national championship, where a $200,000 bet would win him $3 million.
The Volunteers were 14/1 at the time of the bet and have seen a small move down to 13/1 since the wager.
Betting on the NBA?
Perhaps that wager has a better chance than this one had.
But for now, better luck next time fading these scrappy Knicks.
