2017 NBA Finals: What Are The Odds We See Warriors-Cavaliers III?
Two teams have never played each other three consecutive times in the NBA Finals, which would seem to make the possibility of the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors meeting for a third straight time a bit of a longshot.
Instead, the league’s two best teams are favored to square off yet again in the 2017 NBA Finals, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Nobody should be surprised by this scenario, which has been given pick’em betting odds to come to fruition when compared to the other potential championship matchups. The Warriors started off the rivalry by topping the Cavaliers 4-2 in the 2015 NBA Finals before Cleveland won its first-ever league title last year after overcoming a 3-1 deficit.
Golden State’s top competition in the Western Conference is the San Antonio Spurs, who tied them briefly for the best record in the NBA before a recent skid set them back.
Steph Curry Can Still Decide Everything
Regardless, a matchup between the Spurs and Cavs is the second choice at +592 (bet $100 to win $592) and appears to be most likely if Kevin Durant does not return to form for the Warriors following a scary knee injury. Of course that is assuming Cleveland wins the Eastern Conference for the third straight year since LeBron James returned.
The Cavaliers have a slightly smaller lead in the East over the Boston Celtics, who appear to be headed for the second seed if they do not finish with the conference’s best record. A Golden State-Boston matchup in the NBA Finals is worth +1360 and would be intriguing considering the Celtics have won in Oakland twice over the past two seasons.
Two more intriguing sleeper teams that could crash the party are the Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets in the East and West, respectively.
The Wizards are battling the Toronto Raptors for the third seed in the East while the Rockets are likely cemented in that spot in the West with three weeks remaining in the regular season. A Cleveland-Houston matchup is listed at +1760 while Golden State-Washington is +1990. If the Warriors meet the Raptors, you could get even longer odds at +2625.
