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Updated 2021 NBA Finals MVP Odds After Game 4 – Giannis Now the Favorite

Eric Rosales

by Eric Rosales in NBA Basketball

Updated Jul 15, 2021 · 5:26 AM PDT

Giannis Antetokounmpo holding ball out with one hand
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the current betting favorite to win NBA Finals MVP. (Photo by JB Autissier/Panoramic/Icon Sportswire)
  • After a Bucks Game 4 win, Giannis Antetokounmpo is now the NBA Finals MVP betting favorite
  • Devin Booker trails, while Chris Paul has faded to third-best odds
  • Read below for the latest Finals MVP odds

After a thrilling Game 4 that saw the Milwaukee Bucks draw even with the Phoenix Suns, it looks like the NBA Finals have the potential to go down to the wire.

The only thing tighter are the latest NBA Finals MVP odds.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was fading fast after a Game 1 struggle, is now the favorite with Suns’ guard Devin Booker, who nearly shot Phoenix to a win in Game 4, on his tail.

2021 NBA Finals MVP Odds

Player Odds at BetMGM
Giannis Antetokounmpo +150
Devin Booker +175
Chris Paul +275
Khris Middleton +1600
Deandre Ayton +6600
Jrue Holiday +20000
Jae Crowder +25000
Brook Lopez +50000

Odds as of July 14th

Top of the Charts

If we’re looking at total body of work, there’s no one holding a candle to the destruction that Giannis Antetokounmpo is wreaking in these Finals. After a shaky Game 1 — his first game since returning from a still-scary hyperextended left knee injury —  he’s been the goods.

After posting back-to-back 40+ point, 10+ rebound efforts in Games 2 and 3, he was the ever-present force Milwaukee needed to erase a 9-point deficit in the fourth quarter.  The win was Milwaukee’s biggest of the season, evening the series at 2-2 and setting up a best-of-3 for the Larry O.

Giannis stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 26 points (11-for-19 shooting), 14 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocks. One of those swats could go down in Bucks’ lore, recovering to deny an alley-oop finish to Deandre Ayton.

Booker’s performance would have been an all-timer, if he hadn’t picked up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter.

Prior to that, he was unstoppable. After a miserable 3-for-14 performance in a Game 3 loss, Book had 15 made field goals  at the end of three quarters.

He finished with his third 40-bomb of the playoffs, going for 42 on 17-for-28 shooting from the field. Minus that Game 3 blip, he’s averaging 33.3 points and 4.6 assists on 50% shooting from the field in the Finals.

Best of the Rest

Perhaps there’s time to shift the storyline here, but unless Chris Paul puts up at least a pair of vintage performances, there’s little chance Phoenix wins their first franchise title and an even smaller chance he wins Finals MVP.

This coming from a guy that was sitting pretty with -143 odds after Game 1. But it’s been diminishing returns ever since.

Paul’s scoring has gone south every game: from 32, to 23, to 19, to 10 in a Game 4 loss where his series-worst 38.5% shooting was only overshadowed by a back-breaking turnover late in the fourth.

That was his fifth turnover of the night, and Paul has recorded at least four turnovers in each of the last three games.

On the other end, Khris Middleton finally erupted after two horrible showings in Phoenix and a better effort back at home in Game 3. Middleton scored 40 points on 15-for-33 shooting, making clutch bucket after clutch bucket down the stretch.

He does have darkhorse potential, and has the current best value going at +1600.

What’s the Best Bet?

I wish there was a longshot to offer you, but Jrue Holiday likely played his way off the list after a 4-for-20 struggle in Game 4, finishing with 13 points. His defense is outstanding, but he’s already had three games this series with at least 10 shot misses.

https://twitter.com/JJMaples55_MST/status/1415507659126575107

Deandre Ayton has been an outstanding third wheel, and had garnered a bit of Finals MVP buzz for his ability to score and control the boards. While he did have 17 rebounds in the Game 4 loss, he shot just 3-for-9 for six points.

He could have had a major performance in Game 3, but foul trouble limited him to 18 points and nine rebounds in just 24  minutes.

We’re down to a 4-man race. If Milwaukee does come back and take this series, I don’t think there’s a way Giannis doesn’t take home the honors.

While Booker is currently the Phoenix pick, nothing beats a feel-good story. Paul claiming his first title in a storied 16-year-career is begging for a Finals MVP cherry on top.

The Game 5 odds have Phoenix as the early betting favorite. If that holds to form, we would likely see both Paul and Booker odds shorten — and Giannis’ and Middleton’s subsequently lengthen — so be sure you’re timing matches your wager here. For my money, it’s Giannis or bust.

The pick: Antetokounmpo (+150)  

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