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Updated NBA Championship Odds Ahead of Playoffs – Eastern Flavor to Favorites

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in NBA Basketball

Updated Apr 9, 2023 · 5:27 PM PDT

Giannis hugs his brother
Apr 4, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) hugs his brother, Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo (43), while walking off the floor against the Washington Wizards in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
  • The Milwaukee Bucks are +275 favorites to win the 2022-23 NBA championship as the playoffs are set to get underway
  • Right behind them in the Eastern Conference standings and the NBA’s championship odds are the Boston Celtics at +325
  • You can get +750 odds on the defending champion Golden State Warriors as the fourth betting choice

Is it time for a rethink when it comes to how to bet the NBA championship odds? From 2008 through 2020, 12 of the 13 winners of the NBA Finals were either a #1 or a #2 seed entering postseason play.

However, each of the last two winners of the league title were defying those NBA odds. Both the Golden State Warriors (2022) and Milwaukee Bucks (2021) were champions despite entering the playoffs as the #3 seed in their conference. That marked the first time since 1977-78 that back-to-back titles were won by teams that weren’t seeded #1 or #2.

It’s the Bucks who are set as the +275 chalk entering this spring’s playoff. Milwaukee is also topping the NBA playoff bracket as the #1 overall seed. In the past, that was a very good thing. Is it still?

2023 NBA Championship Odds

Team Odds
Milwaukee Bucks +275
Boston Celtics +325
Phoenix Suns +450
Golden State Warriors +750
Philadelphia 76ers +900
Denver Nuggets +900
Los Angeles Lakers +1400
Memphis Grizzlies +1800
Cleveland Cavaliers +3000
Sacramento Kings +3500
Los Angeles Clippers +3500
New York Knicks +8000
New Orleans Pelicans +10000
Miami Heat +12500
Minnesota Timberwolves +20000
Toronto Raptors +20000
Brooklyn Nets +30000
Atlanta Hawks +30000
Oklahoma City Thunder +50000
Chicago Bulls +80000

Don’t get too carried away when it comes to pursuing value, though. You have to go all the way back to the 1995 Houston Rockets, a six seed, to find a team winning the NBA Finals that was below a #3 seed. And that’s the only time it’s happened since the #4 seed Celtics won in 1969. Odds as of April 9 at Caesars Sportsbook.

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The lower-seeded team is 3-1 straight up in the past four NBA Finals. Only the #1 seed Los Angeles Lakers over the #5 Miami Heat saw the favored team come away with the championship over that span. The top two seeds in the NBA championship odds – Milwaukee and Boston (+325) – both play in the Eastern Conference.

Can Milwaukee Buck Recent History?

The Bucks entered both the 2018 and 2019 NBA playoffs as the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee didn’t get to the NBA Finals in either postseason.

Will it be third-time lucky for them as they again come into the playoffs as the team to beat, both in terms of the standings and the betting odds?  Certainly, it’s difficult to look past a squad led by two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

It also helps that center Brook Lopez is healthy and contributing. He was limited to 13 games this season. This year, he’s putting back 15.9 points per game and knocking them down at a .374 rate from 3-point range. Milwaukee is also the NBA’s #4 defensive team.

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Celtics, 76ers Will Beat Each Other Down

Perhaps the best aspect of being #1 in the East is it means that the Bucks will only need to beat one of the Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers in to win the conference. Boston and Philly will likely be squaring off in Round 2 and it has seven-game tong war written all over it.

Is this the year that Joel Embiid and James Harden finally lead the Sixers past the second round? Does Boston have consistent scoring depth beyond Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown? Will either of these teams have enough left in the tank to deal with Milwaukee in the East final?

Suns Will Set On Nuggets

Denver is Philadelphia West. Everyone keeps waiting for the Nuggets to go all the way, but it hasn’t happened yet. Jamal Murray and reigning  MVP Nikola Jokic are true superstars.

Denver is dynamite at home (34-7 SU) but the Nuggets are lacking defensively. They’re the +350 third betting choice in the NBA conference odds for a reason.

Trading for two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns have gone all-in as they seek this year’s title. Phoenix point guard Chris Paul is 37. The Suns have to win now.

They’re set as the +190 chalk to win the West and should get the job done.

NBA Finals An Instant Replay

A #4 seed will be getting to the NBA Finals when Phoenix wins the Western Conference. However, it will be the #1-seeded Bucks who are wagging their right index fingers as NBA champions when all is said and done.

Milwaukee has a superstar who plays at both ends out the court to lead the way. The supporting cast is better and deeper than any other team. The Bucks will beat the Suns in a repeat of the 2001 NBA Finals.

Pick: Milwaukee Bucks (+275).

 

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