2025 NBA Championship Odds: Boston Strong

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Despite major offseason moves in New York, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City, it's the Celtics who remain firmly atop the NBA Championship odds board as Christmas looms. Boston opted to stand pat while other teams overhauled their rosters and that decision appears to be paying dividends for the defending champs, who have the second best record in the league and were the first team to defeat Cleveland. 

The Celtics have won eight of their last 10 games, and will look to fatten their record this week when they kick off a two-game series against the Chicago Bulls.

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

2025 NBA title odds favorites

Celtics (+225): Boston is running it back

The Celtics have done little to shake the confidence of oddsmakers after beginning the season with a dazzling 21-5 record.

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.

Thunder (+400): Still OK in OKC in spite of Holmgren injury

OKC may have come up short in the NBA Cup Final, but there's still plenty to like about the Thunder, who boast the best record in the West and have the highest point differential in the league. 

Oklahoma City has a genuine All-NBA talent in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who ranks third in the NBA in scoring, as well as a young-and-ready supporting cast featuring emerging star Jalen Williams and defensive stand-outs Lu Dort and Carson Wallace. The Thunder have also gotten a big boost from Isaiah Hartenstein, who has stepped in seamlessly for injured center Chet Holmgren, and is posting career highs in points (12.5) and rebounds (12.3).

Granted, OKC has the youngest roster in the league, but a deep run in the NBA Cup should prepare Mark Daigneault's squad well for a long - and prosperous - postseason.

Knicks (+1100): 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. He later dropped 46 points against the Bulls on November 13, hitting six of his 12 attempts from deep.

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

Mavericks (+1200): Doncic is back in The Big D

It took a few weeks, but the Mavs finally resemble the team that reached the NBA Finals last June thanks to the return of Luka Doncic, who sat out five games with a wrist injury.

The five-time All-Star had 36 points, 13 assists, and seven rebounds in his first game back as the Mavericks cruised to a 137-131 win over the Trail Blazers. Luka's presence brings stability back to the starting line-up and gives the team one of the league's most unstoppable offensive weapons. 

Cavaliers (+1300): 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 18.4 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.

Nuggets (+1600): Denver down, but not out

The Nuggets have spent most of the season outside 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 points (30.9) and assists (9.9) per game.

The three-time MVP has already posted 10 triple-doubles and has the Nuggets in the mix despite offseason defections and a calf injury to Aaron Gordon that cost him 10 games.

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

• The Celtics (17.5%), Nuggets (9.5%), and Cavaliers (8.3%) have the highest NBA Championship ticket percentage at BetMGM 
• The Celtics (20.9%), Thunder (12.2%), and Mavericks (11.2%) have the highest NBA Championship ticket handle at BetMGM
• The sportsbook considers the Lakers, Celtics, and Nuggets its biggest liabilities 

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.

NBA title betting odds history

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 NBA Finals opening odds.

Season	NBA Finals Winner	Opening odds	Runner up
2023-24	Boston Celtics	+400	Dallas Mavericks
2022-23	Denver Nuggets	+1800	Miami Heat
2021-22	Golden State Warriors	+1200	Boston Celtics
2020-21	Milwaukee Bucks	+500	Phoenix Suns
2019-20	Los Angeles Lakers	+1800	Miami Heat
2018-19	Toronto Raptors	+6600	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	+2500	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.

NBA Championship Odds FAQs

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