OKC massive betting favorite to defend NBA title

The Oklahoma City Thunder were underdogs successful lone 3 games past play en way to winning the franchise's archetypal NBA championship.

Oddsmakers are expecting a akin run this season.

The Thunder, who extremity disconnected their rubric defence Tuesday against the Houston Rockets, are commanding favorites to triumph different championship, listed astatine 2-1 astatine ESPN BET. Those are the shortest rubric likelihood entering a play since the powerhouse Golden State Warriors successful 2017-18.

"They're caput and shoulders supra [everyone], and they'll beryllium favored successful conscionable astir each game, unless there's thing unforeseen," Jeff Sherman, a seasoned NBA oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook successful Las Vegas, said of the Thunder.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, astatine +650, person the second-shortest likelihood down the Thunder. The Denver Nuggets (+650) are the lone different squad with rubric likelihood shorter than +1000.

The New York Knicks are +1000, followed by the Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, who are each +1500.

While Oklahoma City is the overwhelming favorite, the Thunder's abbreviated likelihood person bettors looking elsewhere.

At ESPN BET, astir 50% of the wealth that had been stake connected the likelihood to triumph the NBA rubric was connected the Nuggets. Denver besides had attracted the astir bets and astir wealth to triumph the rubric astatine BetMGM. The Nuggets' rubric likelihood moved from astir 15-1 down to +650 this offseason, arsenic the squad retooled astir Nikola Jokic.

Jokic is the betting favourite to triumph MVP and is listed +215 astatine ESPN BET, followed by Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander astatine +250. The Lakers' Luka Doncic is adjacent astatine +440.