Very little has changed in the 2016 NBA Championship Odds since the playoffs started roughly one week ago. The Golden State Warriors remain the odds-on lift the national trophy, which isn’t much of a surprise, going by the way the defending NBA champs have handled the Houston Rockets in Round 1.
Things will, however, be getting more intense for the Warriors (-135 to win the 2016 NBA Championship), who are all but set to meet the Clippers or Trail Blazers in the second round of the playoffs. More worryingly, Golden State’s leading scorer and arguably the best player in the league now, Stephen Curry, is nursing a sprained right MCL injury that he sustained against the Rockets. The Warriors have been doing just fine without Curry, but it would be a lie if we said that his injury could make things difficult for his team, especially against the Clippers/Trail Blazers who have very good shooters.
A Look at the Revised Betting Odds to Win the 2016 NBA Championship
Speaking of Los Angeles, the Oddsmakers have them priced at +1800, which is noticeable improvement from the price they had two weeks ago (+2800). The Blazers, despite stealing one game from the Clippers, are distantly priced at +40000, underlining the fact that no one (except for a few of their fans) trusts them to bring the bacon home.
The San Antonio Spurs, who blew out the Grizzlies in each of their four games to sweep their Round 1 series, have the second-shortest odds to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy at +325. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who also swept their series against Detroit, follow closely at +375. The Oklahoma City Thunder come in fourth in the odds at +1400, which sounds like a fair price, given the star power and potential of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
For bettors looking to find value in long shots, the Miami Heat, who’ve seen their odds improve from +7500 two weeks ago to a current price of +3500 seem like the best bet.
Here is a full list of how the odds stand entering this week.
Golden State Warriors -135
San Antonio Spurs +325
Cleveland Cavaliers +375
Oklahoma City Thunder +1400
Los Angeles Clippers +1800
Toronto Raptors +3500
Miami Heat +3500
Atlanta Hawks +5000
Boston Celtics +15000
Indiana Pacers +20000
Houston Rockets +20000
Charlotte Hornets +35000
Portland Trail Blazers +40000
Dallas Mavericks +100000
Duly note that the Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons, who’ve both been eliminated from the playoffs already, are omitted from the above list.
