2025 NBA Championship Odds: Thunder Favored Entering Playoffs

Patrick Everson Sports Betting Expert

5 minute read

NBA championship odds for 2024-25 are heading toward the postseason. The Oklahoma City Thunder are slight favorites, ahead of the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Not far behind in odds to win the NBA championship are the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are making noise, too.

Here's everything you need to know about 2024-25 NBA Finals odds: action, line movement and betting trends. Check back regularly for updates and use our BetMGM bonus code to get the most out of your action.

2025 NBA Championship Odds

Cream of the Crop

Oklahoma City had a huge regular season, going 68-14 SU, winning at a league-leading 82.9% clip. BetMGM has the Thunder +175 favorites in NBA futures odds.

OKC is scorching hot as the playoffs begin. The Thunder are 15-2 SU in their last 17 games, part of a 23-3 overall SU spree. And that comes after a torrid 19-1 SU stretch from Dec. 3-Jan. 16.

The Boston Celtics are looking for a second straight championship, after beating the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in last year's title series. The Celtics went 61-21 SU in the regular season, behind only OKC and surprising Cleveland (more on the Cavs later).

Boston has been on a roll the past six weeks, going 19-3 SU since March. That's more than enough for BetMGM to have Boston as the +220 second choice.

"The Thunder and Celtics would both be a good result for us, which is somewhat common for favorites, due to the short price," BetMGM trader Hal Egeland said. "It would be a great matchup for BetMGM.  I personally think it would be the best possible matchup competitively.

"But handle would certainly get an uptick should the Lakers or Warriors win the Western Conference."

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Cleveland Rocks

The Cavaliers are among the bigger surprises of the 2024-25 season. At 64-18SU, Cleveland posted the best record in the East and the second-best mark in the NBA, behind only OKC.

The Cavs won 16 in a row from Feb. 5-March 14, part of a 20-1 overall run. However, Donovan Mitchell & Co. followed that stretch by going just 8-8 SU in the final 16 games.

Still, Cleveland's success prompted a huge move in BetMGM's NBA Finals futures odds. Back in June, the Cavaliers opened +5000. Cleveland got to +700 in late January and is now the +600 third choice, behind only the Celtics and Thunder.

"The Cavs are currently a small loser for us, but that could change as the playoffs go on," Egeland said. "We have a a handful of five-figure winners on the Cavs, and a couple to win six figures.

"Most of the bets came after they had moved in a bit. But there are a couple nice tickets for them at 30/1."

West Coast Worries

Midseason, neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor Golden State Warriors looked all that great. Fast-forward a couple months, though, and both are among the top five in BetMGM's NBA Finals odds market.

The Lakers landing Luka Doncic and the Warriors adding Jimmy Butler, in trade deadline deals, certainly helped.

Los Angeles finished 50-32 SU, matching Denver. But the Lakers won the tiebreaker to get the West's No. 3 seed. Golden State went 48-34 SU, seventh in a tightly bunched race for spots 3-8 in the West.

Both teams have customers' attention in NBA championship odds. The Lakers are now the +1100 fourth choice at BetMGM, followed by the Warriors at +1400.

"The Lakers and Warriors are the biggest liabilities for BetMGM once again," Egeland said. "Betting picked up on each team after the trade deadline, but both teams top this list just about every year. The Lakers are taking the highest percentage of bets and second-highest percentage in handle, only behind the Celtics.

"The Warriors are sixth in bets and fifth in handle. There was a short period in February where the Warriors could have been had at 80/1. So there were plenty of opportunities to grab them at a good price."

Discord In Denver

At 50-32 SU, the Denver Nuggets took fourth in the Western Conference. But Denver had to win its last three games to get to that point, nearly falling into the play-in round.

Just before that three-game run, on April 8, Denver fired coach Michael Malone. BetMGM had Denver as the +2000 sixth choice in the hours before Malone's firing. And the Nuggets remained +2000 several hours after the decision.

However, as the postseason arrives, Denver is out to the +2500 sixth choice on the NBA championship odds board. In the week leading up to Malone's firing, Denver slid from +1400 to +2000.

"Obviously, the firing came as a shock to everyone," BetMGM trader Hal Egeland said. "The Nuggets have struggled recently."

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But Egeland reminds that Nikola Jokic is the reigning and three-time NBA MVP. Jokic would be on his way to a fourth MVP if not for the huge year Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having.

"Jokic isn't going anywhere. If he's on the court, the Nuggets are right up there in the second tier of Western Conference teams," Egeland said, alluding to every team currently chasing the torrid Thunder.

Tickets, Money, Liability

Action in BetMGM's NBA Finals odds market is tilted toward the aforementioned teams. When accounting for both digital betting (mobile/online) and retail action, the Lakers are No. 1 in ticket count. The Celtics are No. 2, followed by the Cavs, Nuggets and Thunder.

In money, it's Boston No. 1 and L.A. No. 2, with OKC, Cleveland and Golden State running 3-4-5, respectively.

"The Celtics and Thunder in the championship certainly is a realistic outcome that we’ll be cheering for," Egeland said. "If we could get the Knicks or Grizzlies to win their conference, that would be a pleasant surprise, but we’d be happy with the favorites."

Memphis (48-34) was +2400 in mid-February, but is now a +25000 (250/1) long shot. The Grizzlies fired coach Taylor Jenkins on March 28. On the flip side, to a degree, New York (51-31) is the +3000 seventh choice in BetMGM's NBA championship odds.

There are a few teams creating liability for BetMGM.

"Other than the Lakers and Warriors, we’d like it if the Rockets and Pistons could make an early exit," Egeland said. "We always take decent money on Michigan teams. With the Pistons being a long shot early on, we’ve built up a decent liability on them.

"The Rockets wouldn’t be a great result for us, either. But it’s really just a function of price. The Rockets were available at 150/1 in early March."

Houston (52-30) has since almost cut those odds in half, at +8000. Detroit (44-38) is a distant +30000 (300/1).

Patrick Everson

Patrick Everson is a senior reporter for VegasInsider. Based in Las Vegas since 1994, he's worked in the sports betting journalism/content space for more than a decade. He's most known for his deep roster of contacts behind sportsbook counters, providing readers and viewers with the ins-and-outs of how events are being bet. He's also a thought leader in the sports betting space, often appearing on or moderating panels at national conferences. More from Patrick Everson