It’s the Golden State Warriors who remain the clear favorites on the odds to win the 2018 NBA championship at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, but the Houston Rockets are asserting themselves on that futures list as the league prepares for its All-Star weekend.
NBA championship odds 2018: Warriors, Rockets betting favorites, Cavaliers trailing
Golden State has the edge on Houston on the updated NBA championship odds at the sportsbooks, while Cleveland has slipped behind those top teams on the board.
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Golden State, led by Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, finds itself in a dogfight with Houston for top spot in the Western Conference standings at the break. The Warriors, though, have the recent championship pedigree, and they’re the -180 favorites on the NBA title odds.
James Harden and company are then second on that list at +400 as they look to actually make some noise in the postseason this year. The Rockets knocked off the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but they were then knocked out of the postseason in six games by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round.
Houston and Golden State have already met three times this season, with the Rockets winning and covering the posted spread in two of those games according to the OddsShark NBA Database. The Warriors had been pegged as the favorite in all three contests.
Sliding from second to third on the 2018 NBA championship odds over the past month have been the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they now sit at +600 on the board. Cleveland, though, did a big roster makeover at the trade deadline in hopes of jump-starting the team, most notably shipping Isaiah Thomas to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
The Boston Celtics, also turning in middling results heading into the All-Star break, are a step back in fourth on the futures at +1200, followed by the Thunder at +2000. Oklahoma City, though, isn’t even in control of its division race right now, as the Thunder trail the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Northwest. The T-Wolves are back at +3300 on the NBA title odds.
Rounding out the top contenders on the latest futures are the Toronto Raptors at +2200 and the San Antonio Spurs at +2500. A hot run in February has pushed the Raptors atop the Eastern Conference standings, as they look to make their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals. The Spurs find themselves falling farther behind the hot Rockets in the Southwest standings.
For more odds info, picks, and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes, or check it out at OddsShark.libsyn.com.
