While perhaps better known for their dominance at home, the Golden State Warriors are also the NBA’s best road team with a 31-7 straight up and 20-15-3 against the spread record away from home. As the Warriors chase history, the rest of the NBA is chasing the Warriors as the playoffs approach in April.
NBA odds 2016: Warriors still clear favorite on NBA title betting futures
The Golden State Warriors are still the odds-on favorite to win the NBA title over the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Golden State is a -140 favorite on the odds to win the NBA championship at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Some teams in Golden State’s position would be focusing on resting players up for the postseason, but the Warriors have stated that they are actively trying to beat the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ single-season record of 72 wins.
Regardless of whether or not they beat the record, the high-octane Warriors figure to be the team to beat in the playoffs.
The Warriors’ biggest threat in the West is the San Antonio Spurs (+300 to win the NBA championship), who handed the Warriors an 87-79 loss on March 19 in an excellent defensive effort against Stephen Curry.
With the second seed locked up and the first seed in the West seemingly out of reach, Gregg Popovich has started managing the minutes of his star players to keep the team healthy for a deep playoff run. The Spurs are 62-12 SU and 43-31 ATS this season with a 37-0 SU and 23-14 ATS record at home.
Despite their inconsistent play through the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers (+375) are still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers are a -300 favorite to win the East, and the only other team in the conference with odds of less than +5000 to win the NBA championship is the Toronto Raptors at +2500.
Cleveland is just 19-14 SU against teams with winning records this season.
Outside of the top three, the top contenders to win the NBA championship in 2016 include the Oklahoma City Thunder (+1800), Los Angeles Clippers (+3300), Miami Heat (+5000), Atlanta Hawks (+6600) and Boston Celtics (+6600).
The Thunder could be a tough second-round matchup for the Spurs with a 10-7 SU and 11-6 ATS mark in their last 17 games against San Antonio per the OddsShark NBA Database.
