Updated NBA Championship Odds – January 19th Edition

When you look the latest NBA Championship Odds, one interesting feature is the difference between those numbers and the places that teams hold in their respective conference standings. For example, in the Eastern Conference, the standings from 1-5 goes Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Miami and Washington, but the order of those teams in the odds is Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, Washington, and Miami. Obviously, there are some factors involved (such as the fact that Boston was the top seed in the Eastern Conference last year but only won one game in their series with Cleveland), but it looks like the books favor a fourth consecutive Finals meeting between Cleveland and Golden State. Check out our perspective on some of the top NBA betting contenders.

Updated NBA Championship Odds – January 19th Edition

LeBron threads the needle, through the legs! #LeBronJames #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/vk5Y5vzBkm

— NBA (@NBA) 19 de enero de 2018

Top Contenders

Golden State Warriors

• NBA Championship Odds: -195

The Golden State Warriors not only have the best overall record in the league at 37-9, but they also have the best record in games that are decided in crunch time, at 12-4 (defined as having the score within two points during the last five minutes). They almost blew a 27-point lead at the half against Toronto last Saturday, but they outscored Toronto 9-0 in the last five minutes of the game — and then they demolished Cleveland on Monday.

Cleveland Cavaliers

• NBA Championship Odds: +650

Right now, the Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be in free fall. They lost consecutive games by at least 25 points last week (and that was before the Golden State debacle). That was the first time in his basketball career that such a pair of consecutive setbacks had happened to LeBron James, and according to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team has ever won an NBA title in a season in which they suffered consecutive losses by at least 25 points. So while the volume might be keeping the odds low on the Cavaliers, their play is not backing up that +650 number at this point.

Boston Celtics

• NBA Championship Odds: +800

The Boston Celtics put up a streak last week in which they held five of seven opponents below 100 points. In a seven-game winning streak that began on December 27, Boston put up a defensive efficiency of 92.6, which is seven points lower than any other team in the league during that time frame.

Houston Rockets

• NBA Championship Odds: +900

First, the Houston Rockets lost Chris Paul for a couple of weeks; now, they are without James Harden (hamstring strain). They won four of their first six games without the Beard, as Paul has averaged 23.0 points, 10.2 assists and 7.3 boards over that span. The shaky play that the Rockets featured during Paul’s absence has not returned. But can Houston stop KD, Curry and the Warriors?

Toronto Raptors

• NBA Championship Odds: +2800

The Toronto Raptors demolished Cleveland last week by a 34-point margin. That was their largest win ever against a team that had a record 10 or more games above the .500 mark. They almost beat Golden State last Saturday before losing by two. Can they get the stops they need against Boston and Golden State?

Minnesota Timberwolves

• NBA Championship Odds: +3300

The Minnesota Timberwolves might be your best sleeper on that list. Since December 18, no team has a better offensive efficiency rating than this group of youngsters, and their defensive efficiency ranks fifth overall. They’re outscoring teams by double digits per 100 possessions, and by winning 12 of 15, they clicked at a pace that only the Warriors could match. Minnesota might be better than Golden State inside, but can their backcourt match up?

Oklahoma City Thunder

• NBA Championship Odds: +2200

And then there’s Oklahoma City. No team has shown a wider variance between the quality of play during their times of struggle (when they couldn’t figure out how to defend with Carmelo Anthony on the floor) and the quality of play when they were unstoppable. If they can figure out how to get back to that unstoppable play at the right time, they could go on a long run.

The Pretenders

• San Antonio Spurs: +1800
• Washington Wizards: +6600
• Milwaukee Bucks: +7500
• Detroit Pistons: +10000
• Philadelphia 76ers: +10000
• Miami Heat: +15000
• Los Angeles Clippers: +15000
• Portland Trail Blazers: +30000
• Denver Nuggets: 30000
• New Orleans Pelicans: +30000
• New York Knicks: +50000
• Utah Jazz: +50000
• Charlotte Hornets: +50000
• Los Angeles Lakers: +100000