Celtics NBA Championship Odds: Boston Heavily Favored to Win It All After Advancing to Finals
By Peter Dewey
The Boston Celtics have punched their ticket to the NBA Finals, an outcome that many expected entering the playoffs this season.
Boston has been heavily favored to win the title for quite some time, moving to an odds on favorite later on this postseason before sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It will now wait for the winner of the Dallas Mavericks-Minnesota Timberwolves matchup, but Dallas is up 3-0 in that series and no team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. So, are we looking at a Dallas-Boston Finals?
The odds certainly would suggest that.
Latest Odds to Win the NBA Finals
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
- Celtics: -225
- Mavericks: +195
- Timberwolves: +3000
Based on these latest odds, Boston has a great chance to win the title. The implied probability associated with -225 odds is 69.23 percent, and it's possible that could go up depending upon how the Western Conference Finals shake out.
Dallas is the likely opponent, and it would be a tough matchup given its elite guard duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
However, Boston -- not Dallas -- fits a key trend of NBA Finals winners that dates back to the 1996-97 season. Every team since then that has won the title finished the regular season in the top eight in the league in net rating.
Since the 1996-97 season, every team that won the NBA Finals finished inside the top 8 in net rating during the regular season.
— Peter Dewey (@peterdewey2) April 18, 2024
This season:
1. Celtics
2. Thunder
3. Timberwolves
4. Nuggets
5. Knicks
6. Pelicans
7. Clippers
8. Suns
Knicks, Celtics the only teams in East...🤔
Now, there is still come concern on Boston's end with star center Kristaps Porzingis rehabbing a calf injury he suffered in the first round against the Miami Heat.
Luckily, the NBA Finals don't begin until June 6, so Porzingis has even more time to get ready to play in Game 1.
“There’s definitely optimism, there are still some hurdles I’m told, that he has to clear before he can play in Game 1 of the Finals”@ShamsCharania with the latest on Kristaps Porzingis pic.twitter.com/X8mKeVdL4a
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 28, 2024
Boston is going to be a heavy favorite regardless of the outcome of the Western Conference Finals, but can Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and company finally pay it off with a Finals win?
If you're looking to bet on the C's, waiting for the exact outcome markets to be released may be the best way to take them at plus money in these Finals.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.