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Best Bets to Win NBA Divisions Still Up For Grabs

Eric Rosales

By Eric Rosales in NBA Basketball

Updated: March 31, 2021 at 9:56 am EDT

Published:

jayson tatum in a celtics jersey
  • NBA division races should go down to the wire in the Atlantic, Southwest and Northwest
  • Red-hot Raptors will try to hold off surging Celtics
  • Read our preview below to find out our picks to win each division

The NBA All-Star Weekend has come and gone, and while the intensity of that final frame on Sunday won’t soon be forgotten, you can expect to catch similar, if less star-studded type play down the home stretch of what’s been a pretty good NBA season.

A glance at the NBA divisional odds show three races that you should keep your eye on. Let’s run through them and find out who you should be targeting for your wager.

2020 Atlantic Division Odds

Team Odds Division Titles
Toronto Raptors -120 6
Boston Celtics +110 22
Philadelphia 76ers +900 5
Brooklyn Nets +100000 4
New York Knicks +300000 5

All odds taken February 16th

Analysis: How tough is the sledding to get to the top of the Atlantic? Well, consider the Celtics, who rode into the All-Star break with a scorching 11-2 mark with signature W’s over the Lakers, Heat and Clippers in that stretch.

They made up absolutely zero ground, because the Toronto Raptors refused to lose. Literally. They lit the league on fire with a 15-game winning streak before losing to the Nets just before the break. Toronto still leads the division by 1.5 games with 27 to play. The Celts have one game in hand.

Toronto has both championship DNA, and a pipeline of what appears to be endless above average players dotting their roster. Each of Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Marc Gasol, Norman Powell and Serge Ibaka have missed substantial time this year due to injury.

In their absence have emerged some unheraldeds (Chris Boucher, Terence Davis), some retreads (Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Patrick McCaw) and a budding 3-and-D star (OG Anunoby) to pick up the slack. The end result is a team that’s 40-15, ahead of the Kawhi-led pace of a year ago.

This is likely to go down to the wire, as simple regression calls for Toronto to cool off that torrid pace. Boston has one more head-to-head, but these two teams face some pretty tough schedules coming home.

The Raptors still have three more dates with the Bucks, while the Lakers and a pair with the Nuggets are still on the schedule. The Celtics, meanwhile, still have two dates with Milwaukee, two with the Jazz and one more with the Lakers.

Until someone actually does knock them off the perch, this is the Raps’ division to lose.

The pick: Raptors (-120)

2020 Northwest Division Odds

Team Odds Divisional Titles
Denver Nuggets -140 4
Utah Jazz +120 3
Oklahoma City Thunder +1600 6
Portland Trail Blazers +25000 2
Minnesota Timberwolves +250000 0

Analysis: Just 1.5 games separates these two in the Northwest. While it’s no surprise that Utah is getting it done with a stout defense — they currently rank sixth in points allowed per contest and eighth in defensive rating — you’ll be surprised to know that the Nuggets aren’t running the opposition out of the mile-high altitude with a barrage of buckets.

Denver ranks 19th in scoring, but they’ve surged to the top of the Northwest on a scoring defense allowing 106.7 points a game, which ranks fifth in the league, to go along with a defensive rating that ranks 10th.

They’ve also been able to get it done within the division, where they are a perfect 9-0 this year, including two wins over Utah. But they rank inside the top-10 of strength of schedule coming home. Denver still has to battle the Raptors and Clippers two times each, as well as conference leaders Milwaukee and the Lakers.

Utah is notorious for a sizzling home stretch, but they’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting already to get to 36-18. They rank in the middle of the pack in terms of strength of schedule, and they have some doozies still, including the Lakers and Celtics two times each and one with the Raptors.

There’s still two more head-to-head tilts on the docket, including the final game of the year, which could determine the division winner.

While Denver possesses the best player on both teams in Nikola Jokic, the Jazz feature a more complete lineup, and they still have gotten next to nothing from new addition Mike Conley, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury and arguably the worst season of his career.

I know the Jazz’s defense will hold up, and am banking on that for the title.

The pick: Jazz (+120)

2020 Southwest Division Odds

Team Odds Divisional Titles
Houston Rockets -220 3
Dallas Mavericks +150 2
Memphis Grizzlies +6000 0
New Orleans Pelicans +8000 1
San Antonio Spurs +20000 9

Analysis: It was nice to see Luka Doncic at All-Star weekend, but he was taking it pretty easy, and he along with Trae Young were the only non-selected starters to close out the All-Star game.

The Mavericks need Luka as they enter the home stretch, down 1.5 games to the Rockets in the Southwest. But is Dallas for real, or fading? After starting the year 17-7, they’ve treaded water to the all-star break, going 16-15 in their last 31. They also have to deal with underrated Dwight Powell’s season-ending Achilles’ tear, which is a big blow.

They’ve also been trying to coax more out of big man Kristaps Porzingis, whose 18 points and nine rebounds a contest look nice, but feel empty as he’s shot just 41.6% from the field, and at times looks more like a third wheel than the supercharged running mate the Doncic needs.

Who knows how the latest iteration of Houston’s ‘let’s get weird’ roster is going to go? They dealt big man Clint Capela in a deal that netted them wing Robert Covington, and left the Rockets without a legit big man in their rotation, unless you consider 37-year-old Tyson Chandler or seldom-used Isiah Hartenstein as options.

The Rockets have gone 2-2 since downsizing to a starting lineup of 6-foot-7 or smaller across the board. What it has done, which seems unintentional but wildly successful, is unleash Russell Westbrook. In the three games Russ has played in these lineups, he’s averaged just under 39 points a game, and has shot better than 54.5% in each game.

The unclogged lineup and a bunch of shooters dotting the perimeter leaves Westbrook to go 1-on-1 with his man with little to no help around him.

But the jury is still out on how James Harden does. The league’s leading scorer has topped 32 points just once in the four games, though he has been at 47.4% shooting in his last three games, which are three of his four best shooting games of the month.

They’re still way too talented to fall out of first.

The pick: Rockets (-220)

Eric Rosales
Eric Rosales

Sports Writer & Editor

Having worked in and around sports since 1997, Eric is truly a knowledgeable expert. The two-time journalism grad specializes in all things NBA and NFL. From TSN.ca to CTV's Olympic Broadcast Consortium, Eric's work has appeared in local and national publications alike.

NFL NBA

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