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Updated NBA Championship Odds - March 8th

Updated NBA Championship Odds – March 8th

Written by on March 8, 2018

NBA News and Rumors
We’re in the last quarter of the 2017-18 NBA regular season, which means that the contenders are jostling for home court advantage in the postseason (while the bottom-feeders are jostling for prime lottery positioning). The Houston Rockets now have won 17 games in a row — and if you look at the top four teams in the West, they are on a combined 41-game winning streak. That’s going to be a scary conference to fight through — and the East also has its own gauntlet, with Toronto and Boston leading the way and with 4 ½ games separating third-place Cleveland from eighth-place Milwaukee. Let’s take a look at the NBA Championship odds that each team faces when it comes to winning the title in June.

Updated NBA Championship Odds – March 8th

Golden State 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 2/3
Golden State has a streak of five straight seasons with at least 50 wins. Before this run, they hadn’t topped 50 since 1993-94 and had only done it four times ever as a franchise. But can they hold off Houston in a seven-game series? Those questions are mounting, which is why these odds are slipping a bit.

Houston 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 4/1
This 17-game winning streak is the second-longest in franchise history, as they won 22 in a row back in 2007-08. One source of strength is the isolation offense — they average 1.11 points per direct isolation play, tops in the league.

Cleveland

  • NBA Championship Odds: 6/1
The Cavaliers basically turned their roster over but haven’t solved their yips. When LeBron plays with Rodney Hood, George Hill, Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson, the Cavaliers are +15…in just 12 minutes together. Why doesn’t Tyronn Lue have them out there together more?

Toronto

  • NBA Championship Odds: 12/1
The Raptors haven’t lost by more than 9 points since December 27, and they haven’t lost more than one game in a row since January 15. They rank in the top five in net efficiency, defensive efficiency and offensive efficiency. However, bettors still remember their four-game debacle against Cleveland in the playoffs last year.

Boston 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 20/1
The Celtics still get to play Toronto twice, but their defensive woes are beginning to emerge against top competition. They took a shellacking in Houston, with Al Horford posting a -22, his worst rating in green and white.

Oklahoma City, San Antonio 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 33/1
The team is still missing LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard, and the drama is absolutely uncharacteristic for a Gregg Popovich team. Oklahoma City is still inconsistent, throwing down some huge wins but then forgetting to play defense in head-scratching losses.

Philadelphia 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 50/1
This might be my favorite value bet on this roster. The duo of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons does not appear to have a ceiling. For some reason, there’s a PR campaign to get LeBron to come to town, but I like the Sixers’ youth movement just fine without adding a second “coach” to the mix.

Minnesota, Washington 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 66/1
The Wizards have gone 10-6 without John Wall, thanks to Bradley Beal averaging 6.9 assists per game. However, the cracks in the Wizards’ offense are showing, as they have dropped three straight at home. The Timberwolves have impressed this season, but they have a big test Thursday night with Boston at home.

Portland 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 125/1
This wouldn’t be the worst value bet ever, as the Trail Blazers have added defense to their repertoire. In their recent six-game winning streak, they permitted just 98.1 points per 100 possessions, best in the league during that time.

Denver, New Orleans 

  • NBA Championship Odds: 150/1
Anthony Davis has the Pelicans on a big roll right now. Unfortunately, you need more than one big scoring option in the postseason, and the Cleveland-Golden State playoff paradigm has proven to be too fast for big men.

 More 2018 NBA Championship Odds

  • Indiana, Milwaukee (80/1)
  • Miami, Utah (100/1)
  • Detroit, L.A. Clippers (250/1)
  • Charlotte, L.A. Lakers (500/1)
  • Chicago, New York (1000/1)
  • Orlando (2000/1)
  • Atlanta, Brooklyn, Dallas, Memphis, Phoenix, Sacramento (5000/1)
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