2023 NBA Finals Betting Odds

At the beginning of the season, the Boston Celtics (+600) were the betting favorite to win the NBA Championship.

Eighty-two regular season games later, Boston (+310) is still one of the favorites.

However, their Eastern Conference rivals from Milwaukee (+265) finished with the best regular season record and are now the odds favorite as the playoffs begin.

Those who invested early in the Phoenix Suns must have been excited when the Suns landed Kevin Durant from Brooklyn.

Phoenix started the year at +1000, and as the playoffs begin, they are now down to +425.

The below NBA Playoff Betting article covers the following topics:

• Eastern Conference Contenders
• Western Conference Contenders
• NBA Playoffs – Popular Bets
• NBA Playoffs – Prop Betting
• NBA Playoffs – Betting Strategies
• Advanced Betting Technology For Bettors
• A Bettors Biggest Edge

Eastern Conference Contenders

Milwaukee Bucks +265

To start the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Milwaukee Bucks are the betting favorite at +265 odds. To win the Eastern Conference, the Bucks are +120.

Not surprisingly, Giannis Antetokounmpo (+270) is the NBA Finals MVP betting favorite, ahead of Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid.

The Bucks will have a home-court advantage as long as they are alive in the playoffs. This year, Milwaukee was 32-9 overall and 23-16-2 (59%) Against The Spread (ATS) on the home court.

Boston Celtics (+310)

In the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics dropped a six-game series against the Golden State Warriors, who won their fourth title since 2015.

Boston rebounded with a solid regular season, finishing only a game behind Milwaukee for the best record in the NBA.

The Celtics started the 2023 playoffs at +310 to win the championship and +155 to win the East. Boston was an impressive 32-9 straight up and 24-17 ATS (59%) in their 41 home games.

Boston is led by Jayson Tatum (+500) and Jaylen Brown (+1300), who could both receive NBA Playoff MVP votes if the Celtics can return to the Finals.

Philadelphia 76ers (+1000)

After a three-game losing streak In early December, the odds for the Philadelphia 76ers to win the NBA Championship shot up to +2200.

The Sixers responded with an 8-game winning streak, then in January, they put together a 7-game winning streak, and heading into the playoffs, they were +1000 to be crowned NBA Champs.

Joel Embiid was an MVP candidate all season long for Philadelphia and is +950 to be named NBA Playoff MVP.

If you are interested in betting the Sixers at +1000 to win it all, you should parlay that with an Embiid for MVP wager.

It’s hard to visualize a scenario where Philadelphia wins the championship, and someone other than Embiid is MVP.

From a betting standpoint, Philadelphia was 47-34-1 ATS (58%), the second-best record against the spread in the league. Only Utah was better.

Western Conference Contenders

Phoenix Suns (+425)

From late December until mid-January, the Phoenix Suns had a stretch where they lost 12 of 14 games. Their odds of winning the NBA Championship climbed all the way up to +1850.

And then the trade deadline happened.

Landing Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets gives Phoenix one of the most talented rosters in the league. Durant played only eight games for his new team but showed enough to start the playoffs at +600 to be named NBA Playoff MVP.

If you like Phoenix to go a long way in the playoffs, an attractive MVP bet to consider might be Durant’s teammate, Devin Booker. The Suns’ shooting guard averaged 28 points a game this year and 5.5 assists.

At the beginning of the playoffs, you could find Booker at +1800 to be named playoff MVP.

Golden State Warriors (+900)

If the Golden State Warriors had earned home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, there is no doubt their championship odds would be lower than +900.

The Warriors were two completely different teams playing at home and on the road this season.

At home, the Warriors were 33-8. (80%) However, on the road, they were a disappointing 11-30. (27%)

The Warriors are still the Champs until someone beats them. However, they will have to figure out how to win on the road if they hope to repeat as NBA Champions this year.

Denver Nuggets (+1100)

Fans of the Denver Nuggets might look at their +1100 odds and think their team is being disrespected.

At 53-29, the Nuggets had the best overall record in the Western Conference, yet Sportsbooks have them listed third in the conference based on their odds.

Against the spread, the Nuggets were 44-37-1 (54%). Late in the season, when the Nuggets rested many key players, they were still covering spreads. This tells us they are a deep team.

Despite their depth, when people think about the Nuggets, they probably think about Nikola Jokic.

Jokic is +1200 to be crowned playoff MVP.

As the two-time regular season MVP, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jokic and his Nuggets come out of the Western Conference.

NBA Playoffs – Popular Bets

Point Spread Betting

The most popular way to bet on NBA games has been to bet the spread.

Point Spread Example:

Golden State +3.5 | -110

Sacramento -3.5 | -110

In our game above, the sportsbooks have set the point spread at 3.5 points. We can see that Golden State is the underdog because they have the plus (+) sign in front of the 3.5. This means they are receiving an additional 3.5 points.

If a bettor wanted to wager on the Warriors +3.5, Golden State would need to either lose by three points or less OR win the game outright to win the bet.

For Sacramento, because they are -3.5 points, the Kings would need to win the game by four points or more to cash a bet.

Totals (O/U)

Totals betting refers to how many combined points both teams will score. Totals betting is often referred to as Over/Under betting as well.

Totals Betting Example:

Golden State vs Sacramento

Total (O/U) – +215.5 points | Over -110 | Under -110

In our example above, the total has been set for +215.5 points. As a bettor, we must now decide if the game’s combined score will be Over or Under that number.

It’s just that easy.

Moneyline

Moneyline betting is all about picking winners. Of course, bettors must be aware of the odds for each team.

Moneyline Betting Example:

Golden State | +120

Sacramento | -125

In our example game above, Golden State is the underdog, and Sacramento is the favorite.

At +120 odds, a $100 bettor would win $120 in profit.

At -125 odds, a bettor would have to wager $125 to win $100 in profit.

Moneyline betting doesn’t require a team to win by a specific amount of points like point spread betting.

However, sportsbooks will adjust the odds so that we are deterred from just betting on the favorites all the time.

Moneyline betting is about understanding when to pick our spots with underdogs capable of winning the game outright.

NBA Playoffs – Prop Betting

A prop bet is a sports bet where the outcome of the bet is typically not related to the outcome of the game. Prop bets can be team, game or player related.

A popular NBA playoff prop bet is picking which team will win the series.

NBA Player Prop betting is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to bet on basketball, whether it’s playoff or regular season games.

Before the legalization of sports betting, many of us were active Fantasy Sports players.

Because fantasy sports have been around for so long and because many of us are more familiar with individual players than we are with all 30 NBA teams, we can be more comfortable betting on player performance-related wagers.

Some of the more popular NBA player props include:

• Player O/U total points or assists or rebounds, etc.
• Player O/U total points and assists combined
• Player O/U total points, assists and rebounds combined
• Player to score 1st field goal or first basket of the game
• Player O/U to record a double/double: Yes/No
• Player to receive a technical foul: Yes/No

NBA Playoffs – Betting Strategies

The amount of technology being used by the sportsbooks to analyze the massive amounts of data now available for all major sports means lines and odds today are sharper (more accurate) than ever before.

There was a brief period when sports bettors were at a disadvantage against the sportsbooks unless they had the required data-science skills and access to the huge data streams being used by operators to set their odds.

However, thanks to some companies who have created technology that benefits the sports bettors and not the sportsbooks, the playing field for recreational bettors has never been more level.

Advanced Betting Technology For Bettors

BestOdds Edge is a sports betting platform that bettors of all experience and skill levels use, allowing us to compete head-to-head with the sportsbooks.

For the first time, recreational sports bettors can now access the information and tools used by those creating and setting the odds.

What BestOdds Edge can do so well for bettors is to help analyze the hundreds of available prop bets on the market and quickly identify the opportunities that are advantageous for bettors.

With hundreds of available bets for each game, the time and effort required to properly analyze all the available options is unrealistic for most sports bettors.

BestOdds Edge not only does the analysis work for all of us, but they then provide that data and information in easy-to-consume formats that make handicapping our bets a very efficient and easy process.

BestOdds Edge allows bettors access to the same data and information used by sportsbooks to create their odds, allowing us to make the most informed decisions possible when placing our next bet.

A Bettors Biggest Edge

As discussed above, the technology available for sports bettors today has helped make the goal of becoming a long-term profitable bettor much more realistic.

However, it’s still important to understand that the single greatest edge a bettor has over the sportsbooks is our ability to shop around and find the Best Odds available.

Before the playoffs started, LeBron James and his LA Lakers could be found at +1400 to win the NBA Championship or as high as +2200 to win it all.

The difference in ROI between +1400 and +2200 is huge. A bettor has created a significant edge in their favor by playing the Best Odds available.