There is only a little more than a month left in the 2017-18 NBA regular season, with it ending on Wednesday, April 11. Every team has fewer than 20 games remaining. So let’s take a look at updated NBA championship odds from MyBookie and see if there’s anything interesting.
In the Eastern Conference, it surely will come down to Cleveland (+550), Toronto (+1000) or Boston (+1100) facing the Warriors or Rockets. I might favor Boston if former Utah Jazz All-Star swingman Gordon Hayward were to make it back this season from a gruesome broken ankle suffered on opening night, but that’s apparently not going to be the case.
“He’s not playing this year. I don’t know what else to say,” Coach Brad Stevens said recently. In recent weeks, Stevens and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had noted that Hayward was making progress but still wasn’t even ready to travel with the team.
The Celtics are looking long-term when it comes to Hayward’s career and would not put him at risk of re-injuring himself upon bringing him back earlier than expected. Hayward suffered not one, but two very serious injuries upon his gruesome fall from an alley-oop play in his season debut as a Celtic. He fractured his tibia and dislocated his ankle.
Updated NBA Championship Odds – March 7th Edition
And the answer is: Not much too interesting. The Golden State Warriors have been NBA title favorites since they won it all last season over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Dubs remain -230 favorites to win a third title in four years. Nothing is going to knock Golden State out of the favored role other than one of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Draymond Green or Klay Thompson suffering a season-ending injury. And I’m not sure Green or Thompson doing so would even be enough. Durant or Curry would. I believe I speak for most NBA fans in hoping that the Houston Rockets, who are +280 on the title odds, do end up having the best record in the NBA because the lone shot that James Harden & Co. have is home-court advantage against the Warriors in the West Finals. Houston did win the season series 2-1 and thus would own a tiebreaker should the teams finish with the same record – which is quite possible.NBA Power Rankings:
1) @HoustonRockets 2) @warriors 3) @Raptorshttps://t.co/ITjRFJdslK pic.twitter.com/UZ0RVmOn3C — theScore (@theScore) March 6, 2018
How Has Golden State Done So Far?
As of this writing, the Warriors are 22-3 (.880) against Eastern Conference teams and have a 13-1 (.929) record on the road against the East this season, highest winning percentage in franchise history and 2nd-highest for a Western Conference team in NBA history (2006-07 Phoenix, .933, 14-1). So it’s hard to see an East team having any shot. Curry, meanwhile, and Thompson are the only players in league history to make at least 200 3-pointers in six straight seasons. The NBA has definitely changed. There were only 34 instances of a player making 200 or more three pointers in a season in the first 34 seasons that the NBA played with the three-point line (1979-80 to 2012-13). The Rockets would be heavy favorites most seasons as they are 32-1 when Clint Capela, James Harden, and Chris Paul play together (lone loss at New Orleans on 1/26) and 17-12 when they don’t. The Rockets are 42-2 when leading after three quarters of play this season and have won by double-digits an amazing 30 times this season. Houston is the sixth team in NBA history to have recorded multiple 14-game winning streaks in a single season. Mike D’Antoni is one of five coaches in NBA history (Rick Adelman, Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley) to have a 15-game winning streak with multiple teams.Three-Team Race In East
In the Eastern Conference, it surely will come down to Cleveland (+550), Toronto (+1000) or Boston (+1100) facing the Warriors or Rockets. I might favor Boston if former Utah Jazz All-Star swingman Gordon Hayward were to make it back this season from a gruesome broken ankle suffered on opening night, but that’s apparently not going to be the case.
“He’s not playing this year. I don’t know what else to say,” Coach Brad Stevens said recently. In recent weeks, Stevens and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had noted that Hayward was making progress but still wasn’t even ready to travel with the team.
The Celtics are looking long-term when it comes to Hayward’s career and would not put him at risk of re-injuring himself upon bringing him back earlier than expected. Hayward suffered not one, but two very serious injuries upon his gruesome fall from an alley-oop play in his season debut as a Celtic. He fractured his tibia and dislocated his ankle.
