Las Vegas NBA Odds Predict Warriors and Celtics Atop Respective Conferences in 2018-19

Posted on: August 6, 2018, 11:30h. 

Last updated on: August 6, 2018, 10:38h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors are expected to be one of the best teams in the history of the league during the 2018-19 regular season. The Westgate SuperBook opened its regular season over/under win totals with the Dubs at 62.5.

NBA odds Warriors Lakers
NBA odds on total regular season wins suggest Steph Curry’s Warriors won’t meet LeBron James in the Finals for a fifth-straight year. (Image: Chris Pizzello/AP)

Should the Warriors go over on 62.5, the team would become just the 25th team in NBA history to win that many games in a single regular season. Golden State owns the all-time mark of 73 wins, which they set in 2015-16 before losing in the NBA Finals to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Speaking of LeBron, his new team Los Angeles Lakers are expected to reach the NBA Playoffs. The SuperBook opens LA at 48.5 wins, which is 13.5 more wins than what the team won a year ago prior to James announcing his decision to relocate to California.

“We’ve seen the impact LeBron has had in his prior free-agency moves,” SuperBook oddsmaker Jeff Sherman told ESPN. “With the more competitive Western Conference, his impact wouldn’t be as drastic as what we’ve seen prior. We figured about 10-12 wins, plus the young players’ growth to get to the number we set.”

West is Best

With LeBron moving to the Western Conference, the East has seemingly become even more inferior. It’s also made the Boston Celtics’ road to the NBA Finals much easier.

With a healthy Kyrie Irving, the SuperBook thinks the C’s will win 57.5 games, the most in the Eastern Conference. The Philadelphia 76ers are next at 54.5, followed by the Toronto Raptors (54.5) and Indianapolis Pacers (47.5).

As for LeBron’s former team, the Cavs are now thought to be entering a rebuilding phase despite signing Kevin Love to a long-term deal. The SuperBook has them at just 30.5 wins.

In the West, after the Warriors the Houston Rockets are at 54.5 wins. Oklahoma City Thunder open at 50.5 wins.

Both the Western and Eastern conferences have three teams each forecasted to win at least 50 games. But the West has 10 teams with over/unders of 40+, while the East has only six.

NBA is Coming

With sports betting expanding across the US following the Supreme Court’s May overturn of the longstanding federal ban, Las Vegas is licking its chops as the city is quickly becoming a major sports town.

The NHL was the first of the major pro sports leagues to place a franchise in Las Vegas. The NFL Oakland Raiders are scheduled to call Sin City home in 2020.

MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren doesn’t think it will end there. The casino exec, whose company announced a partnership with the NBA last week to utilize its data and become the basketball association’s “official gaming partner,” opined that an NBA team will soon be in Las Vegas.

“I would think it would be highly plausible that an NBA team would like to relocate to what’s becoming one of the sports capitals of the US,” Murren declared on The Dan Patrick Show. “It’s a pretty fun place to watch sports. We built the arena (T-Mobile Arena) to house that.”