NBA championship odds continue to move, and with the playoffs finally beginning tomorrow, we're seeing more and more money coming in on this NBA futures market.
Three NBA odds favorites for the 2024 Finals sat more or less undisturbed most of the season, with the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Milwaukee Bucks only really seeing the Clippers threaten them atop this popular NBA futures board.
But with question marks — particularly the health of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard — surrounding most other contenders, we're seen the market steadily move towards the Nuggets, and particularly Celtics, as consensus favorites.
As the Play-In Tournament continues to set the stage for the postseason, let's check out the latest NBA title odds.
NBA Championship odds (live display)
2024 NBA title odds favorites
Boston Celtics (+135 to +160)
The Boston Celtics spent the last month of the regular season in cruise control, long since wrapping up homecourt throughout the playoffs.
Early depth concerns after gutting their rotation to acquire Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were mitigated by just how dominant Boston's Top 6 has been, while the likes of Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet, and even Payton Pritchard rose to the occasion all season.
The Celtics finished with a 64-18 record and 11.7 net rating — both NBA bests by miles — looking every bit as good as advertised after their big trades.
Despite a couple of recent letdown losses, the Celtics are clearly the class of the NBA right now. Even with Joel Embiid returning for the Philadelphia 76ers, the East seems very much like Boston's to lose as they await their first-round opponent from the winner of the 8-seed play-in.
Denver Nuggets (+250 to +300)
It's no surprise that the defending champion Denver Nuggets sit near the top of betting boards, with Nikola Jokic putting on a true display of dominance last season and Jamal Murray playing the best non-Bubble ball of his career en route to a title.
Most of the crew has returned, several youngsters can provide upside to the playoff rotation, and even through the Nuggets' occasional regular-season nonchalance, they're the team to beat until proven otherwise.
Denver's settled in as the West's No. 2 seed, losing the tie-breaker to OKC, and will play the Lakers in the first round, setting up a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals.
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Team to watch: Philadelphia 76ers (+1,400 to +2,000)
The Philadelphia 76ers were once just a step below the league's top tier of favorites, and seemed to be a plausible dark horse with Joel Embiid playing out of his mind as an MVP odds favorite.
Of course, Embiid's midseason meniscus injury sent all that optimism into peril, as the team fell as low as the East's No. 8 seed, finishing seventh. It was uncertain if and when we'd see Embiid back in uniform, but the notoriously frail center returned couple of weeks ago, giving him a ramp-up to knock off the rust before the postseason.
Embiid's presence dramatically raises this team's ceiling, and while there are still plenty of questions about the supporting cast (from whether De'Anthony Melton can return from injury, to whether Tobias Harris can find his groove again), there's reason to believe again, at least.
The 76ers, previously in the +3,000 range, crept up to +2,200 with Embiid healthy again, and have only seen further movement — shortening as low as +1,400 at some books. Philadelphia officially booked its playoff spot Wednesday night, beating the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament.
NBA Finals odds over time
Here's a look at how NBA championship odds stack up league-wide this season. We'll be updating throughout the playoffs to show how the odds race evolves.
Covers NBA Finals betting tools
NBA Finalists 2023-24 odds
| Matchup |  |
|---|---|
 Boston Celtics vs.  Denver Nuggets |
+250 |
Boston Celtics vs.  Oklahoma City Thunder |
+950 |
Boston Celtics vs.  Dallas Mavericks |
+1,000 |
Boston Celtics vs.  Los Angeles Clippers |
+1,000 |
Boston Celtics vs.  Phoenix Suns |
+1,300 |
Boston Celtics vs.  Minnesota Timberwolves |
+1,500 |
 Philadelphia 76ers vs. Denver Nuggets |
+1,800 |
 Milwaukee Bucks vs. Denver Nuggets |
+2,000 |
Boston Celtics vs.  Los Angeles Lakers |
+2,100 |
 New York Knicks vs. Denver Nuggets |
+2,900 |
 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Denver Nuggets |
+3,800 |
Odds as of April 18, 2024.
NBA Finals exact result odds
| Matchup | |
|---|---|
| Boston Celtics to beat Denver Nuggets |
+520 |
| Denver Nuggets to beat Boston Celtics |
+610 |
| Boston Celtics to beat Oklahoma City Thunder |
+1,480 |
| Boston Celtics to beat Dallas Mavericks |
+1,500 |
| Boston Celtics to beat Los Angeles Clippers |
+1,700 |
| Boston Celtics to beat Phoenix Suns |
+2,000 |
| Boston Celtics to beat Minnesota Timberwolves |
+2,100 |
| Los Angeles Clippers to beat Boston Celtics |
+2,400 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder to beat Boston Celtics |
+2,600 |
| Denver Nuggets to beat Philadelphia 76ers |
+2,800 |
Odds as of April 18, 2024.
Understanding NBA Finals futures, point spreads and lines
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:
- Milwaukee Bucks +240
This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to win $240 if the Bucks 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.
- Golden State Warriors -150
This means that if you bet on the Golden State Warriors during the 2018-2019 NBA season you would have needed to bet $150 to profit $100 if the Warriors 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.
Reading the NBA Finals moneyline odds
Betting the moneyline (ML) in the NBA means simply picking which team wins the game outright. Moneyline favorites have a negative value (-110), while moneyline underdogs have a positive value (+110). It's a two-way market, which means there are only two options to place a wager.
| Team | Moneyline Odds |
|---|---|
| Boston Celtics |
-130 |
| Denver Nuggets |
+110 |
American odds are very straightforward. If a sportsbook has the Boston Celtics listed as -130 favorites, you would have to bet $130 to win $100. If you wagered $100 on the opposing underdog Denver Nuggets at +110, you would get a $210 return, including your original stake.
Past NBA Finals winners
The Denver Nuggets hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2023, toppling the eighth-seeded Miami Heat by a 4-1 tally.
Here are the last 10 NBA Finals winners, along with their opening odds.
| Season | NBA Finals Winner | Opening odds | Runner up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 2013-14 |  San Antonio Spurs |
+1,000 | Miami Heat |
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. The franchise's stunning superiority was due in large part to the spectacular play of Bill Russell, who won 11 titles in his 13 years in the league.
| Team | NBA championships |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles Lakers |
17 |
| Boston Celtics |
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 |
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.
Popular NBA futures odds
NBA Championship odds trends
- The Western Conference has won 14 of the last 21 NBA Championships.
- A No. 1 seed has won the championship in 11 of the last 21 seasons.
- The last time a non-Top-3 seed won the championship was 1995 (Houston, No. 6).
- The Golden State Warriors have won four of the past eight NBA titles, and been Western Conference champions in two of those four seasons they didn't lift the Larry O.
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
The Boston Celtics are the favorites for the 2024 NBA title.
The Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA title, defeating the Miami Heat 4-1 in the NBA Finals.
NBA Championship odds above are in American format, meaning a $100 bet at odds of +250 would profit $250 if it wins.
Oddsmakers at sportsbooks create odds to win the NBA Championship based on the team's implied probability to win the title. The team with the lowest odds has the best chance to win the NBA Championship.
The Los Angeles Lakers are available at +4,500 to win the NBA title as of April 10.
