Boston Celtics open NBA Conference Finals as title favorites
(L-R) Jayson Tatum #0 and Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in game seven to win the 2023 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinals at TD Garden on May 14, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Adam Glanzman/Getty Images/AFP
Fresh off their Game 7 beatdown of Philadelphia, the Boston Celtics strengthened their grip on the status of NBA title favorites ahead of the conference finals.
The Celtics are being offered at +110 by BetMGM to win the title and are -550 favorites to beat the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat are the +1200 longshots to win it all.
Boston opened at +650 to win the NBA title this season, and the Celtics have been backed by the most money at 17.2 percent.
However, they are not BetMGM’s biggest liability.
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets high fives Aaron Gordon #50 during the second quarter in game six of the Western Conference Semifinal Playoffs against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center on May 11, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
That would be the Denver Nuggets, who opened at +1400. The Nuggets open their Western Conference Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers at +240 to win the title, having been backed by the most total bets at 14.8 percent and the second most money at 15.1 percent.
Denver is -165 to win the series vs. Los Angeles at +140, which would be a bad outcome for the sportsbook. The Nuggets are the biggest Western Conference liability as they’ve been supported by 24.3 percent of the money.
The Lakers are +300 to win the title. They are BetMGM’s second biggest liability after opening at +2200.
LeBron James #6 and Austin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers react against the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime of Game Four of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 24, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP
DraftKings has the same order but slightly different odds. Boston is the +100 title favorite, followed by Denver (+240), Los Angeles (+320) and Miami (+1600).
Jayson Tatum, who scored a record-setting 51 points for Boston in Game 7, is understandably the +160 favorite at BetMGM to take home NBA Finals MVP honors. He is followed by Denver’s Nikola Jokic (+275) and the Lakers’ LeBron James (+375).
Jokic has drawn the most total bets at 21.3 percent, while James leads the way with 22.8 percent of the money backing him compared to 21.5 percent for Jokic.
Tatum is also the +160 favorite at DraftKings, where Jokic is being offered at +250.
