It is still Golden State and everyone else in the West. The Warriors’ futures odds to make a fourth-straight trip to the NBA Finals by winning this conference are -240. The Houston Rockets have already proven themselves to be worthy contenders at a NBA-best 44-13, which is a half-game ahead of Golden State (44-14) at the break. The Rockets’ odds to shake things up by winning the West are set at +275. Seeing how both teams are in a dead heat in the standings, I see quite a bit of value in that number. Houston has already won the season series 2-1 and there should be some concern about the Warriors’ 4-4 performance in their last eight games before the break.
The numbers fall off rather dramatically from there and for good reason. Both San Antonio and Oklahoma City are listed as +1600 third-favorites. The Spurs are headed in the wrong direction at 4-6 in their last 10 games and the Thunder do not have the depth of talent to hang with the top two teams in the West over the course of best-of-seven matchup. Minnesota’s odds are +2500 as the fourth-best team in the West followed by the Utah Jazz at +5000 and the Denver Nuggets at +8000.
2018 WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM ODDS AS OFFERED AT BOVADA SPORTSBOOK:
- Warriors -300
- Rockets +250
- Thunder +1200
- Spurs +1600
- Timberwolves +2500
- Nuggets +15000
- Pelicans +15000
- Jazz +15000
- Trail Blazers +15000
- Clippers +20000
