The NBA’s regular season has come to a conclusion and the play-in tournament matchups have gotten underway. Now is a great time to take a look at all the teams left standing and their potential to make a run. We’re looking at the favorites and longshots to see who likely comes away with the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
The Favorites: Suns, Bucks, and Nets
The Phoenix Suns (+275) are the betting favorite to win the NBA Championship right now. They comfortably sat atop the rest of the league when it came down to overall record and were top three offensively and defensively when it comes to points per game. This is the same team that made it into the NBA Finals last year, so they certainly have championship-level talent on hand. Not to mention, this is arguably the deepest bench in the league.
The Milwaukee Bucks (+550) are right behind them, though. Milwaukee defeated Phoenix in the Finals last season and are returning with a pretty similar roster. Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the best player in the league with the numbers that he puts up and the team has recently gotten Brook Lopez back from injury. The Bucks are a difficult team to beat four times in a series.
Finally, we have the Brooklyn Nets (+650). Shockingly, their betting odds are pretty short considering that they are near the bottom of the standings. However, these odds are expecting them to get Ben Simmons back from his injury soon. Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond were sent over in the James Harden deal and will be crucial to providing depth for the star-studded duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
The Longshots: Warriors, Celtics, and Grizzlies
The first longshot on the list is the Golden State Warriors (+1100). The Warriors won five straight to end up as the No. 4 seed in the conference but there are some question marks right now. Steph Curry is out with an ankle injury. If that continues to nag him, they won’t be as dangerous. With him fully healthy though, they could surprise a lot of people with Klay Thompson looking like his old self and Draymond Green back in action.
The Boston Celtics (+900) started the season slowly but have since looked like one of the best teams in the league. Their defense flew up the rankings behind a top candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award, Marcus Smart, and their wing tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are great on both ends of the floor.
Lastly, we come to the Memphis Grizzlies (+1400). Memphis is probably the only team left standing that you will see with a bench rotation that rivals the Suns. This is a young roster that doesn’t have much experience and yet finished with the second seed in a loaded Western Conference. Ja Morant looks like a flat-out superstar in the NBA right now but they have won nine out of their 11 games without him in the lineup. The depth is there and the star power is there. The problem is the inexperience due to them being a really young roster. With the odds that they have, this is a longshot that has a lot of value.