The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, with plenty of intrigue lining both ends of 2024's bracket. Since a blowout-laced opening weekend, we've been served up several classic games, plenty of compelling storylines, and little that's shaken our staff's NBA Finals predictions.
When all the dust eventually settles, the Boston Celtics are NBA odds favorites for the title, but the defending champion Denver Nuggets are nipping at their heels, with the rest of each conference's contenders hoping they can stay healthy and focused enough to challenge for the crown.
Throughout the playoffs, stay tuned here as we bring you updated betting analysis, the latest props markets, and other postseason news as the NBA championship odds heat up.
Expert NBA Finals Predictions
Our experts are going mostly chalk, with the betting markets also moving further towards a Celtics-Nuggets matchup in the NBA Finals. However, they're split as to who will prevail, with a small majority siding with the defending champs.
| Writer | Pick (odds) |
|---|---|
| Rory Breasail |  Nuggets over Celtics |
| Andrew Caley |  Thunder over Celtics |
| Douglas Farmer | Nuggets over Celtics |
| Jon Metler |  Celtics over Mavericks |
| Ryan Murphy | Nuggets over Celtics |
| Rohit Ponnaiya | Celtics over Nuggets |
| AJ Salah | Nuggets over Celtics |
Picks made prior to start of playoffs.
NBA Finals favorites
Eastern Conference - Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics spent the last month of the regular season in cruise control, long since wrapping up homecourt throughout the playoffs.
Early depth concerns after gutting their rotation to acquire Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were mitigated by just how dominant Boston's Top 6 has been, while the likes of Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, and even Payton Pritchard rose to the occasion all season.
The Celtics easily dispatched the Heat in the first round, awaiting the winner of Cleveland-Orlando's Game 7, though Porzingis will miss multiple games with a strained calf.
Western Conference - Denver Nuggets
It's no surprise that the defending champion Denver Nuggets sit as favorites out West, with Nikola Jokic putting on a true display of dominance last season and Jamal Murray playing the best non-Bubble ball of his career en route to a title last year.
Most of the crew has returned, several youngsters can provide upside to the playoff rotation, and even through the Nuggets' occasional regular-season nonchalance, they're the team to beat until proven otherwise.
Denver settled in as the West's No. 2 seed, losing the tie-breaker to OKC, and handily ousted the Lakers in the first-round rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals. The Minnesota Timberwolves await, proving a tough foe after their dismantling of Phoenix.
Clipped too short
In 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers pulled off what many in the NBA called a coup when they snagged then-reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and Paul George within days of each other, joining two of the NBA's truly elite two-way swingmen.
It was a move that was supposed to make them instant title contenders, but five years, several playoff collapses, and approximately 183 nebulous Leonard injuries later, we've yet to see this Clippers unit play truly dominant basketball for more than 20 games or so at a time.
MAVS ELIMINATE THE CLIPPERS AND ADVANCE TO THE SEMIFINALS 😤 pic.twitter.com/dO8LA4SzBo
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 4, 2024
Leonard inevitably went down against the Mavericks — playing just two games in the series, and clearly not himself — further handcuffing a team that had already done the exact opposite of "peak at the right time".
This latest postseason setback puts the Clippers at a critical crossroads this offseason, facing difficult questions about everything from Leonard's health, to the roster's age, and what — if any — flexibility remains to retool this roster without completely detonating it.
While the Leonard signing was a no-brainer, and the George trade a must-make gamble, the price LAC paid was massive (a zillion draft picks and some dude named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), and the potential downside of that summer is being realized in full.
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2024 NBA Finals props odds
DraftKings sportsbook is already offering an array of NBA playoff odds props for the eventual 2024 NBA title winner (odds as of 5-4-24).
Conference to win the NBA Finals
We're looking at a dead heat between the East (-110) and West (-110), for this year's title, mostly buoyed by the similarity in prices between the favorite Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets.
Division to win the NBA Finals
The Atlantic (-105) and Northwest (+125) — home to the Celtics and Nuggets — are naturally the favorites here. The Atlantic also houses the East's No. 2 seed, the New York Knicks, while the Northwest actually houses the West's entire Top 3, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves joining the Nuggets.
Seed to win the NBA Finals
1-seeds are understandable favorites (-115); they are the top seed after all. The Celtics also double as the overall favorites to win the title, giving this combo between them and OKC the odds-on lead. The 2-seeds come in at +190, with Denver holding down the lion's share of that probability, before a big dropoff to the 5-seed at +850.
2024 NBA Finals Schedule
| Game | Date/Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | June 6 @ TBA | TBA |
| Game 2 | June 9 @ TBA | TBA |
| Game 3 | June 12 @ TBA | TBA |
| Game 4 | June 14 @ TBA | TBA |
| Game 5 (if necessary) | June 17 @ TBA | TBA |
| Game 6 (if necessary) | June 20 @ TBA | TBA |
| Game 7 (if necessary) | June 23 @ TBA | TBA |
2023 NBA Finals
The Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Finals in five games over the Miami Heat.
The NBA championship trophy is named after Larry O'Brien, the third commissioner of the NBA, who served from 1975 to 1984. The trophy was previously known as the Walter A. Brown Trophy and was renamed in honor of Larry O'Brien in 1984.
Jerry West is the all-time leader in career points in NBA Finals history with 1,679 points. LeBron James ranks second with 1,562 career points. Other active players in the top 50 include Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving.
Bill Russell has won the most NBA championships with 11 titles during his 13-year playing career. He also holds the record for the most career wins in the NBA Finals, with 45 wins. The Top 5 players with the most appearances in NBA Finals are Bill Russell, Sam Jones, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson.
