NBA Odds Favor Cavaliers on Celtics’ Court, Warriors Seemingly a Finals Lock

Posted on: May 17, 2017, 10:00h. 

Last updated on: May 17, 2017, 09:57h.

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Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

The NBA odds in Las Vegas aren’t giving the Boston Celtics much of a chance against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

NBA odds Cavaliers Celtics Finals
LeBron James and Isaiah Thomas begin their Eastern Conference Finals matchup tonight in Boston, and if the NBA odds are correct, the Cavs will make quick work of the Celtics. (Image: Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports)

After the series price opened at the Westgate SuperBook with the defending champs at -550 and the Celtics at +425, sports bettors have moved the line even further in Cleveland’s favor. Before tonight’s game one matchup, the NBA odds now have LeBron’s squad at -700, to Isaiah Thomas’ team at +500.

Being the underdog despite having home-court advantage is just fine with the Celtics.

“They ain’t giving us a chance in this series,” Thomas said this week. “They ain’t giving us a chance when we was down 2-0 to Chicago. We got the No. 1 seed, they didn’t give us a chance. They don’t ever give us a chance and we keep going. We don’t care about what others think.”

Game One Odds

Today marks 10 days since the Cavs have played an actual game. Cleveland swept both of its first two opponents, the Pacers and Raptors, and sat watching the Celtics series go to seven against the Washington Wizards.

Boston is rolling, especially with the strong play from Kelly Olynyk. But even with Cleveland’s long absence, bettors in Las Vegas are still taking LeBron in game one at The Garden.

The Cavs are spotting the Celtics four points on the spread, and are the favorites straight up at -185 to Boston’s +165. That means a $185 wager on Cleveland would return $100, while a $165 wager on the underdog would net $272.25.

Games one in two are in Boston, after the Celtics sneaked out the best record in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. The series then heads to Cleveland for games three and four. If necessary, games five through seven go back and forth.

Warriors a Lock

The San Antonio Spurs were arguably the second-best team in the NBA behind their Western Conference counterparts during the regular season. Coach Gregg Popovich, Kawhi Leonard, and grizzly veterans Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were thought to maybe stand in the way of the Golden State Warriors reaching their third consecutive NBA Finals.

Now two games into the Western showdown everyone wanted, the series appears over. With Leonard on the bench due to a controversial injury caused by Warriors’ Zaza Pachulia, the Spurs came out flat on Tuesday night and got stomped 136-100.

The SuperBook opened the series prices at Warriors -1600, Spurs +900. After game one and Leonard’s injury, that number ballooned to Warriors -5000, Spurs +1500.

After a 36-point loss and Pop saying his team looks like they don’t believe they can win, sportsbooks will put the line at odds that will basically suspend betting on the series.

As for the outright NBA Finals winner, online betting shop Sportingbet has the Warriors at -333, followed by the Cavs (+280), Celtics (+2200), and Spurs (+2800). Bovada has even more faith in Golden State (-400). The internet sportsbook puts Cleveland next (+275), then Boston (+2200) and San Antonio (+5000).