Warriors’ NBA Championship Odds Listed at -200 After Sweeping Blazers
- Books list the Golden State Warriors as -200 favorites to win the NBA championship
- Golden State is in the NBA Finals for the fifth successive season
- The Warriors have won that two NBA titles
Is it really getting easier for the Golden State Warriors the further they advance in the NBA playoffs? It sure looks that way.
It took six games for the Warriors to oust the Los Angeles Clippers in the opening round. Another sextet of matches was required to dispatch the Houston Rockets. But in the Western Conference final, Golden State steamrolled the Portland Trail Blazers in a four-game sweep.
Now books have established the Warriors as the -200 chalk in their NBA Championship odds, even before they know whether they’ll be facing the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals.
Updated 2018-19 NBA Championship Price
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Golden State Warriors | -200 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | +190 |
| Toronto Raptors | +1400 |
*Odds taken May 21
What’s Going To Stop Warriors?
In Game 4 against Houston, Kevin Durant (34.2 PPG, 41.6 3P% in playoffs) suffered a right calf injury. He hasn’t played since. The Warriors are 6-0 without their leading scorer.
Center DeMarcus (Boogie) Cousins was lost early in Game 2 against the Clippers due to a torn left quad. Golden State is 11-3 without him.
Veteran swingman Andre Iguodala missed Game 4 against the Trail Blazers with a sore left calf. Absent three key players, Golden State won 119-117 in overtime.
.@Rjeff24's feeling when the Blazers had a 17-point lead on the Warriors in Games 2, 3 and 4?
¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/aN02qSIuxa
— ESPN (@espn) May 21, 2019
Portland led Golden State by 17 points in Game 2. The Trail Blazers owned an 18-point advantage during Game 3. They grabbed another 17-point lead over Golden State in Game 4.
And the Warriors won all three games.
Without Durant on the floor, Steph Curry has taken his game back to an MVP level, while Draymond Green is back at peak Draymond.
Both had triple doubles in Game 4 against Portland. Curry scored 37 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out 11 assists in Game. Green had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. They are the first teammates in NBA playoff history to record a triple-double in the same game
History In The Making
Nobody likes to watch a dynasty unfold in real time unless it’s their team. For fans of Golden State, we are witnessing nirvana.
For the rest of the teams in the NBA, they are left to wonder: when do they get to play?
The Warriors are the first team to reach five straight finals since those legendary Boston Celtics of Bill Russell and John Havlicek went to 10 in a row from 1957-66.
Golden State is poised to join the Minneapolis Lakers (1952-54), the Celtics (1959-66), the Chicago Bulls (1991-93, 1996-98) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02) as teams to win at least three NBA titles in a row.
But you might want to wait before you make a play on Golden State. If/when Milwaukee punches its ticket to the finals, the Dubs’ odds will get slightly longer.
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
