2025 NBA Championship Odds: Boston Remaining Top Dogs

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Despite major offseason moves in New York, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City, it's the Celtics who remain firmly atop the NBA Championship odds board as we begin 2025. Boston opted to stand pat while other teams overhauled their rosters and that decision appears to be paying dividends for the defending champs, who have the second best record in the Eastern Conference and were the first team to defeat Cleveland. 

The Celtics will have a chance to further prove themselves this week when they return home to host the Kings and Pelicans.

Let's see how the NBA odds to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy are shaping up as the NBA's best and brightest return to action for another busy week on the hardwood.

NBA Championship odds

Live odds to win NBA Finals

2025 NBA title odds favorites

Celtics (+230): Pace slightly slows down for Boston, but don't sleep

The Celtics have taken a few missteps recently, but don't worry. Not every season is meant to be perfect and the defending champs are still hitting their stride.

With the No. 3 spot in the NBA league standings (and No. 2 in the Eastern Conference), the Celtics are still in prime position to remind the league of who they are to take it back-to-back come June. Even if some of their recent matchups in December and January have been a few losses they may have you scratching your head, it's all a part of the process.

Nothing a little bit of rest won't be able to fix and with the NBA All-Star weekend vastly approaching in February, the C's will get the much-needed reset they seek to hit the ground running for the second half of the season.

Thunder (+240): OKC continues to fly high

The best record in the West continues to be held by the soaring Oklahoma City Thunder.

OKC star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps unlocking new levels of his game (especially after a career-high 54-point performance against the Utah Jazz) and emerging star Jalen Williams is his right-hand man to keep the Thunder at the top of the Western Conference.

Thunder center Chet Holmgren remains out for the time being, which may raise some concerns in how the team will remain dominant in his absence but OKC has been holding their own and that is enough to keep the optimism flowing around this squad.

Granted, OKC has the youngest roster in the league, but a deep run in the NBA Cup should prepare Mark Daigneault's squad well for a long - and prosperous - postseason.

Cavaliers (+800): Beast of the East

The Cavs are here and they are showing time and time again that they are the real deal.

The Cavs have been getting an All-NBA type performance from Donovan Mitchell, as expected, but the big story this season has been the undeniable maturation of Evan Mobley. The USC product is averaging a career-high 18.8 points per game through increased usage and a nifty new arsenal of moves. Mobley is creating more offense off the dribble than at any other point in his career, and it's consistently leading to high percentage baskets for the Cavs early in the season.

Knicks (+1100): Kings of New York

The Knicks sent shockwaves across the NBA this summer when they acquired Karl-Anthony Towns in a blockbuster three-team, seven-player trade. And although he started slowly with just 12 points in his opener, the four-time All-Star is quickly cementing himself as the best big man the franchise has had since Patrick Ewing roamed the paint at MSG. 

That was especially apparent in Towns' fourth game against the Heat, when he exploded for 44 points on 17-of-25 shooting to lead New York to a convincing 116-107 victory over its longtime rival. He later dropped 46 points against the Bulls on November 13, hitting six of his 12 attempts from deep.

With the halfway mark of the season approaching, the Knicks are getting cozy as third in the Eastern Conference and have the league's third-shortest NBA Championship odds thanks in large part to Towns' ability to stretch defenses with his long-range shooting and his growing comfort in the pick-and-roll with All-Star guard Jalen Brunson. But we're sure the Knicks are ready to make the Celtics sweat as they inch closer to knocking them down the standings.

Nuggets (+1400): Denver starting to pick it up

The Nuggets have spent most of the season outside the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but they are getting hot at the right time and find themselves higher in the standings. Such is the power of Nikola Jokic, who is averaging a career-highs 31.5 points per game.

The three-time MVP has already posted 19 triple-doubles and has the Nuggets in the mix despite offseason defections and nagging injuries to Aaron Gordon that have cost him significant time.

Much credit can also be given to Russell Westbrook. After many counted his signing with Denver to be the end of his career, the self-proclaimed Brody has been a factor in the Nuggets waking up after a lineup shakeup gave him an opportunity to shine as a starter in lieu of Gordon. 

Mavericks (+2000): Dallas persevering through injuries

The Mavs' NBA championship odds have undergone another uptick with the prolonged absence of All-NBA guard Luka Doncic after he suffered a calf strain injury on Christmas Day. Doncic's injury hasn't been the only concern as of late for the Mavericks with Kyrie Irving missing a few games with an ailment and as of recently, Klay Thompson also joins the list. Despite the injury bug taking a few bites, the Mavs are hanging in there to stay just within the play-in picture.

2024 NBA Finals odds over time

Here's a visual representation of how the NBA championship odds have evolved over the course of this season. Stay tuned — we'll be updating this graphic regularly as the chase for the Larry O continues to develop!  

Sportsbook insights

• The Celtics (17.3%), Cavaliers (10.0%), and Thunder (9.3%) have the highest NBA Championship ticket percentage at BetMGM 
• The Celtics (20.1%), Thunder (12.5%), and Mavericks (9.9%) have the highest NBA Championship ticket handle at BetMGM
• The sportsbook considers the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Lakers its biggest liabilities 

Understanding NBA Finals futures

Sportsbooks will post NBA Finals futures as soon as the previous season concludes, and some even sooner. These betting boards are constantly adjusted throughout the summer and ensuing season as players get hurt or are traded. Once the regular season begins, NBA Finals odds will change daily as teams win and lose games, and as more players are injured or traded. Sportsbooks will also adjust the NBA title odds based on handle and liability to certain teams.

NBA Championship odds will usually look like this:

• Dallas Mavericks +240

This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to win $240 if the Mavs win the NBA title. If it's close to the end of the season or the NBA has a very dominant team, you could see a minus sign (-) ahead of a team's odds. 

• Boston Celtics -150

This means that if you bet on the Celtics during the 2023-2024 NBA season you would have needed to bet $150 to profit $100 if Boston won the championship.

Above we have posted the American odds for the NBA championship. However, these are easy to convert to decimal odds or fractional odds with our odds converter tool.

NBA title betting odds history

The Boston Celtics hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy for a record-setting 18th time in 2024, dispatching the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks in five games.

Here are the last 10 NBA Finals winners, along with their NBA Finals opening odds.

Season	NBA Finals Winner	Opening odds	Runner up
2023-24	Boston Celtics	+400	Dallas Mavericks
2022-23	Denver Nuggets	+1800	Miami Heat
2021-22	Golden State Warriors	+1200	Boston Celtics
2020-21	Milwaukee Bucks	+500	Phoenix Suns
2019-20	Los Angeles Lakers	+1800	Miami Heat
2018-19	Toronto Raptors	+6600	Golden State Warriors
2017-18	Golden State Warriors	-168	Cleveland Cavaliers
2016-17	Golden State Warriors	+215	Cleveland Cavaliers
2015-16	Cleveland Cavaliers	+300	Golden State Warriors
2014-15	Golden State Warriors	+2500	Cleveland Cavaliers

Best NBA Finals betting sites

If you're in a state that allows mobile, or online betting, make sure you know which sites are the best basketball betting sites. The best betting sites offer sharp odds, quick payouts and are safe and secure when it comes to depositing and withdrawing your money. 

NBA Championship odds trends

• The Western Conference has won 16 of this century's 25 NBA championships.
  
  
• A No. 1 seed has won the championship in 11 of the last 17 seasons.
  
  
• The last time a non-Top-3 seed won the championship was 1995 (Houston, No. 6).

Teams with the most NBA Championships

No team has ever enjoyed a longer stretch of dominance than the Celtics, who won eight straight championships from 1959 to 1966. Their most recent victory was also the team's 18th title, which pushed them ahead of the Lakers for the most by any franchise all-time.

Team	NBA championships
Boston Celtics	18
Los Angeles Lakers	17
Golden State Warriors	7
Chicago Bulls	6
San Antonio Spurs	5
Philadelphia 76ers	3
Detroit Pistons	3
Miami Heat	3
Milwaukee Bucks	2
New York Knicks	2
Houston Rockets	2
Toronto Raptors	1
Dallas Mavericks	1
Cleveland Cavaliers	1
Portland Trail Blazers	1
Denver Nuggets	1

How to bet NBA Finals odds

There are many strategies to consider when making an NBA futures bet on which team will win the championship. Obviously, you're looking to bet on who you think can navigate through the NBA playoffs and come out on top. So, just because a team is in first place at the NBA All-Star break, it doesn't mean that's the best roster to win in the postseason. 

One thing to consider is the conference the teams play in because a team needs to win its conference before it can win the NBA title. The West has long been considered the better of the two conferences, but the East's depth of elite teams has recently become as impressive, if not more. 

Also, consider how an injury may affect a futures bet. Let's say the Milwaukee Bucks are a heavy favorite to win the Eastern Conference and a short favorite to win the NBA title. But what happens if Giannis Antetokounmpo gets hurt? In that case, a ticket on a rival team to win becomes extremely valuable.

Other things to consider are strength of schedule, and even load management. Maybe a team is undervalued in the futures market because it has played the more difficult portion of its schedule early on. Or perhaps a team has more losses than it should because it has been sitting its best player on the second half of back-to-back games all season. 

Check out more insight into how to bet on basketball.

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