NBA Finals Odds 2018: Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets Only Real Championship Threats?

Warriors Rockets — Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors defends James Harden of the Houston Rockets during their NBA game at ORACLE Arena on Oct. 17, 2017 in Oakland, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

It’s been more of the same in the NBA since the All-Star break. The Houston Rockets still haven’t lost since January, the Golden State Warriors continue to keep pace with them in the standings and the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling despite the deals they made at the trade deadline.

Golden State has met Cleveland in the NBA Finals in each of the last three years, and it seemed like a fourth matchup was a foregone conclusion at the beginning of the 2017-2018 season. There at least seems to be a chance that we’ll get one new team in the 2018 NBA Finals, though only the top two teams in the Western Conference are playing like they have a real shot of winning the title.

The defending champion Warriors are still the odds-on favorites to win the title, but it’s the Rockets, not the Cavaliers, that have the second-best championship odds. That’s significant, given that Houston faces a much more difficult road to the finals than Cleveland.

The Cavaliers lost 126-117 to the Denver Nuggets Saturday night, despite another triple-double from LeBron James. They've lost four of their last six games and are just 3.5 games up on the No.8 seed Miami Heat.

Cleveland’s biggest competition comes in the form of the Toronto Raptors, who are the East’s No.1 seed and on pace to win 60 games. All of the numbers suggest that Toronto is a real threat to the Cavs, though the Raptors don’t have LeBron James, and they are still led by the same core of players that has routinely underachieved in the playoffs after impressive regular seasons.

The Boston Celtics aren’t far behind Toronto, though they’ve come back down to earth after coming out of the gate strong. Trailing the Raptors by two games in the standings, the Celtics are 23-16 since starting the season with 21 victories in their first 25 games.

Boston was defeated by Houston 123-120 Saturday night. It was Houston’s 15th straight win, putting them on pace to win 65 games this season.

James Harden had another double-double in that game, and he’s the clear MVP favorite with just a few weeks left in the regular season. The acquisition of Chris Paul has worked out better than anyone could’ve expected. The Rockets are nearly perfect when Harden, Paul and Clint Capela are in the lineup.

The idea that the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder could upset Houston or Golden State in the playoffs is seeming more unlikely by the day. Both teams have struggled since the All-Star break, and they’ve dropped to sixth and seventh in the West standings, fighting to stay in the playoffs.

Here are the latest 2018 NBA Finals odds, via 5Dimes:

Golden State Warriors-176

Houston Rockets+440

Cleveland Cavaliers+650

Toronto Raptors+1200

Boston Celtics+1700

Oklahoma City Thunder+3500

San Antonio Spurs+4000

Philadelphia 76ers+8500

Washington Wizards+8500

Minnesota Timberwolves+12500

Milwaukee Bucks+22500