After dominant regular season, Thunder big favorite to hold onto NBA crown

Oddsmakers really like Oklahoma City Thunder to continue their reign over the NBA and successfully defend their championship.

The Thunder, who concluded the regular season on Sunday with the league's best record at 64-18 (.780), are the clear favorite to keep the Larry O'Brien Trophy at a range of +110 to +135, according to a survey of sportsbooks on Sunday night.

Conversely, the Portland Trail Blazers, playing beyond the regular season for the first time since the 2020-21 season, have the most convincing to do. The eighth seed in the Western Conference, Portland has a play-in game against the Phoenix Suns and is the biggest underdog to make it all the way and win the NBA Finals, with some odds at +250000.

The odds closely align with the records, as the San Antonio Spurs (62-20, .756) have the second-best odds at +450 to +550.

The Boston Celtics (56-26), fortified by the solid return of star Jayson Tatum from a ruptured Achilles in last year's playoffs, are the next favorite. The Detroit Pistons (60-22) had the better regular season but perhaps not the track record of recent playoff runs compared to their Eastern Conference rival, who won the NBA title two seasons ago.

DraftKings has the defending champion Thunder at +110, followed by the Spurs at +500, Celtics at +550 and Nuggets at +950.

Then there's a jump to the Cleveland Cavaliers (+1600), New York Knicks (+1800) and Pistons (+2200).

The longest odds of the 20 teams are for the Trail Blazers at +200000. DraftKings favors the seventh-seeded Suns downing eighth-seeded Portland with a 4.5-point spread in their play-in game on Tuesday in Phoenix.

FanDuel also likes Oklahoma City to repeat as the NBA champion (+115), with San Antonio and Boston next (each at +550), then Denver and Cleveland (each at +1100) and New York (+1800).

Here, Portland is at +75000 along with Phoenix and Miami as the three teams with the longest odds.

FanDuel takes the next step by putting odds on the finalists, with a Celtics-Thunder matchup the favorite (+330), which follows the conference breakdown of the overall winner odds.

The Thunder represent the Western Conference in the top four favored matchups, against the Cavaliers (+550), Knicks (+850) and Pistons (+900). Those predicting a Celtics-Spurs final can get +1000 odds, and Cavs-Spurs at +1500.

The longest odds are +75000 for Cavs-Warriors, Knicks-Lakers, Knicks-Clippers, Knicks-Warriors and Pistons-Lakers.

Take the extra step and pick the matchup and winner, and that's the Thunder over the Celtics at +500. A Boston series win over Oklahoma City is at +1200 odds.

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP, is favored to repeat as NBA Finals MVP at +135. Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is next at +500.

BetMGM likes the Thunder to win it all at +135, followed by the Spurs (+450), Celtics (+550), Nuggets (+1000) and Cavaliers (+1400). The Trail Blazers have the longest odds at +250000.

NBA FINALS WINNER ODDS (DraftKings)

Oklahoma City (+110)

San Antonio (+500)

Boston (+550)

Denver (+950)

Cleveland (+1600)

New York (+1800)

Detroit (+2200)

Houston (+6000)

Minnesota (+9000)

Atlanta (+13000)

Philadelphia (+17000)

Charlotte (+17000)

Los Angeles Lakers (+25000)

Toronto (+25000)

Orlando (+35000)

Phoenix (+60000)

Los Angeles Clippers (+70000)

Miami (+70000)

Golden State (+80000)

Portland (+200000)