2025 NBA Championship Odds: Celtics Cruise Past Cavs in First Big Test

The Cleveland Cavaliers' dreams of a perfect season came to a crashing halt on Tuesday evening with a 120-117 loss to the Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum led the way with 33 points and the reigning champs stood their ground during a frenzied third quarter to hand the Cavs their first loss of the 2024-25 season. 

The result confirmed the belief of many bookmakers, who have had Boston atop their NBA Championship odds boards since long before opening night. The C's have now won eight of their past 10 games and remain the betting favorites to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since 2018. 

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

Latest 2025 NBA title odds news

Celtics running it back

The Celtics entered the season atop the NBA championship odds board, and have done little to shake the confidence of oddsmakers after winning seven of their first eight games in convincing fashion.

Despite a summer of memes and Twitter speculation, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remain a deadly tag team, leading the league's best core rotation. With three other potential All-Stars flanking them, Boston's roster is deep with elite two-way players.

After finally getting over the hump and hoisting a banner, this group has come back more confident, regardless of what Steve Kerr or Reddit trolls may have tried to instill over the Olympics. They're also more cohesive after a full season together, with Joe Mazzulla looking far steadier at the helm in his second go-around in the playoffs.

Still OK in OKC, but Holmgren injury hurts

The Thunder took everyone by surprise a season ago, winning 57 games and finishing with the best record in the Western Conference. Opponents are no longer underestimating OKC this time around, but it's hardly mattered as the team has won nine of its first 11 games and has the highest point differential in the NBA.

Much of the credit goes to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is once again leading the team in points, assists, and steals, and scored a career-high 45 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 11.

That's the good news for the Thunder. The bad news is SGA may need more performances like that as Oklahoma City is now without big man Chet Holmgren, who sustained a right iliac wing fracture in a game against the Golden State Warriors on November 10. The sophomore center is expected to return in time for the playoffs, but OKC will surely miss his instant offense and rim protection in the months to come.

Denver down, but not out

The Nuggets are desperately clinging to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but that hasn't soured bettors on their championship prospects. Such is the power of Nikola Jokic, who is averaging career-highs in rebounds (13.7) and assists (11.7) per game while scoring 29.7 points per contest.

The three-time MVP has already posted six triple-doubles in his first 10 games and has the Nuggets in the mix despite offseason defections and a calf injury to Aaron Gordon that is likely to keep him out of the lineup for multiple weeks.

A Cavalier attitude

The Cavs are one of just four teams in NBA history to begin the season 15-0, with the other three advancing to the NBA Finals. Will Cleveland share the same fate?

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 18.1 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.

New York State of mind

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. 

It's still early, but the Knicks are fourth 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.  

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

Bettors at BetMGM are bullish on the Thunder, whose opening odds have been cut nearly in half from +950 to +500. 

"Right now, the Celtics and Thunder have taken the most handle, but that is expected by the two teams with the shortest odds," says Halvor Egeland, Trading Strategy Manager at BetMGM. "The Knicks are not a great result either, and a hot start may have New York and New Jersey bettors backing them heavily to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy."

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.

Past NBA Finals winners

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 opening odds.

Season	NBA Finals Winner	Opening odds	Runner up
2023-24	Boston Celtics	+400	Dallas Mavericks
2022-23	Denver Nuggets	+1,800	Miami Heat
2021-22	Golden State Warriors	+1,200	Boston Celtics
2020-21	Milwaukee Bucks	+500	Phoenix Suns
2019-20	Los Angeles Lakers	+1,800	Miami Heat
2018-19	Toronto Raptors	+6,600	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	+2,500	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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