NBA Championship Odds After the All-Star Game: Odds Entering 2nd Half of Season
Following a nearly universally disliked NBA All-Star Game, let's turn our attention back to the contests that matter with the contenders preparing to separate themselves from the pretenders during the second half of the season.
Our look at the NBA championship odds after the All-Star Game paints a vivid picture of two teams expected to square off in the finals. But an Eastern Conference squad amid a Cinderella-like season and basketball's most iconic organization pose serious threats to the favorites.
Let's dig into the NBA championship odds and look at what to expect from the contenders down the stretch.
NBA championship odds after All-Star Game
Live NBA championship odds from our best NBA betting sites.
Thunder NBA championship odds (+225)
Record (seed): 44-10 (No. 1 in Western Conference)
The Oklahoma City Thunder are simply the NBA's best team.
Sure, the Boston Celtics are the reigning champions, but this Thunder team looks to be on another level from the rest of the league. And the club's loss in the NBA Cup finals will surely live in the players' minds when the postseason begins.
Oklahoma City opened the campaign with the third-shortest odds at +950, tied with the Dallas Mavericks.
However, with runaway NBA MVP odds favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continuing his incredible play, career-best scoring output from fellow All-Star Jalen Williams, and the return of Chet Holmgren to form a ferocious big-man pairing with Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder are rightfully priced as the favorites.
Perhaps the true sign of Oklahoma City's dominance is that the Western Conference team with the second-shortest odds, the Denver Nuggets, is trading at +1500.
The implied probability associated with these +225 odds for the Thunder is 30.77%, while the Nuggets are being given just a 6.25% chance based on their best odds. That's quite the gap.
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Celtics NBA championship odds (+235)
Record (seed): 39-16 (No. 2 in Eastern Conference)
The Celtics know what it's like to win it all, and that's a massive advantage over the Thunder.
Boston took down the Mavericks in five games last year. As a result, the Celtics opened this season as overwhelming favorites to repeat at +310 (the second-shortest odds were +750).
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown form one of the league's best 1-2 punches, Derrick White continues to improve, and NBA Sixth Man of the Year odds favorite Payton Pritchard has been taking his game to another level.
That combination of star scoring and true difference-makers off the bench is what wins titles.
Much to the chagrin of the people who complain about the NBA on a daily basis, the Celtics have created the template for how to win in this era of basketball. They play strong defense and shoot a ton of threes.
Boston could very well pull off the repeat.
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Cavaliers NBA championship odds (+900)
Record (seed): 44-10 (No. 1 in Eastern Conference)
To understand just how surprising it is to see the Cleveland Cavaliers where they are after 54 games, we need to look at their opening odds.
Cleveland opened well down the NBA championship odds leaderboard at +5000, tied with the Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, and Sacramento Kings.
Now here in mid-February three of those teams are jockeying for position in their respective conferences, and the Pelicans are awful. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers' record is tied for the best in the NBA.
So, how have they done this? And is it sustainable?
With a dynamic duo of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland leading the charge, the Cavaliers have mostly been following that aforementioned template from the Celtics to achieve this level of success.
They make the second-most 3-pointers in the league and are holding opponents to the sixth-worst field-goal percentage.
Cleveland made a savvy move ahead of the trade deadline while shipping out Caris LeVert and Georges Niang to get De'Andre Hunter, who was in the midst of a career year with the Atlanta Hawks.
I'm not sure I'd bet on the Cavaliers over the Celtics if all things were equal. But these +900 odds are much longer than the +235 price on Boston. Therefore, this makes for an intriguing option.
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Lakers NBA championship odds (+1800)
Record (seed): 32-20 (No. 5 in Western Conference)
And finally, we come to the team you were all hoping to see.
The Los Angeles Lakers, now with LeBron James and Luka Doncic teaming up, are in a group of contenders including the Nuggets and New York Knicks. But it remains to be seen whether their lack of a star big man will bite them following the failed Mark Williams trade.
The Lakers should have no issue scoring when the postseason rolls around, with Austin Reaves averaging nearly 20 points per game and Rui Hachimura continuing to play very effectively.
However, Anthony Davis was the Lakers' best player this year. He was leading the team in scoring and putting in incredible work defensively.
Losing the latter could really burn Los Angeles when the playoffs roll around. I'd be hesitant to bet on the Lakers, even though they now boast perhaps the NBA's greatest duo.
NBA betting odds pages
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