NBA Finals Odds: Celtics Big Favorites Over Mavs to Win Title

Brian Giuffra | May 27, 2024

Jaylen Brown. / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics are both up 3-0 in their conference finals series and seem all but assured to square off in the NBA Finals.

There, it appears, oddsmakers believe the Cetlics have a big advantage.

The Celtics are currently -220 at FanDuel Sportsbook and -225 at DraftKings Sportsbook to win the NBA Championship. The Mavs, meanwhile, are +185 and +200 at those sportsbooks, respectively.

One of the reasons for the wide differential is sportsbooks have a stronger belief the Celtics will make the finals. They're currently up 3-0 on the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals and are -100000 at FanDuel to win the title. The Mavs are up 3-0 on the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals but are only -3500 to win the series at FanDuel.

If/when the Mavs make the finals, their odds will likely come down, so if you want to bet the Mavs to win the title at the best odds, now is likely your last chance — that is unless the T-Wolves win Game 4 in Dallas.

Either way, it's clear sportsbooks believe the Celtics are the clear favorite to win the title, which isn't a surprise. Boston was the favorite most of the season and became an outright favorite, meaning they had minus-odds, in early May.

On the other side, the Mavs weren't even favored to win this series ahead of Game 1 against the T-Wolves. They were +138 at FanDuel to win the West last week, but after winning the first two games in Minnesota and the third at home they're now obviously big favorites to be the team coming out of the West.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown led the Celtics to the finals in 2022, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. They've needed two late-game comebacks against the Pacers to get their 3-0 series lead and have looked vulnerable at different stages of each of their three series wins thus far. They're 11-2 in the playoffs overall, however, and keep finding ways to win close games late.

The Mavs counter Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, a backcourt duo that has dominated the vaunted Timberwolves defense. They've been underdogs to start each of their series but dispatched the Clippers and top-seeded Thunder on their way to the conference finals. Their performance against Minnesota has been nothing short of stupendous.

While the Celtics are clear favorites to win the title, the Mavs offer more value. Just make sure to jump on it now before their odds move when they make the finals.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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