The Golden State Warriors are the reigning NBA champions and have won two titles in the past three seasons. They opened the 2017-18 season with the highest win total projection in the NBA at 67.5. And they were prohibitive minus-240 favorites against the field to win the title at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook before the season.
Entering the postseason, they are still the favorites in Las Vegas, but the gap has shrunk significantly as of Thursday morning.
The Warriors are 6-5 (+120) favorites at Westgate, while the Houston Rockets are right them behind at 5-4 (+125). Houston entered the season with 12-1 odds, but the Rockets are the No. 1 seed in the West after going 65-17 in the regular season.
The Rockets and Warriors are minus-110 co-favorites to win the Western Conference, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers having the next-best odds at 25-1.
LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers are the favorites to win the Eastern Conference at plus-120, with the Toronto Raptors (+150) and Philadelphia 76ers (+400) behind them. The Cavs have 8-1 odds to win the title.
A field bet (the 15 teams other than Golden State) is now favored at minus-140 to win the NBA Finals over the Warriors (+120).
The New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks have the longest title odds at 300-1.
