Celtics v Warriors: NBA Finals Betting
Two teams. Six games. One winner. Beginning Thursday June 2, the NBA Finals will finally hit the court running. It’s down to the Celtics and the Warriors in 2022; both of whom began the season as unlikely contenders, but went all the way with the help of some smashing talent and some knockout performances. Which, of course, lends itself to some opportune prospects over the next two weeks with NBA betting at Bodog.
Coming into the season fresh, of the two finalists, The Golden State Warriors had the better futures odds in NBA Finals, but even sitting at +900, they were still trailing league favourites like the Brooklyn Nets at +240 and the Los Angeles Lakers at +400.
The Boston Celtics, on the other hand, were way down the list in the futures market. Back when the season started, the team had odds of +4000 which rose all the way up to +6600 by Christmas. That’s one hell of a U-turn.
Many of the NBA’s big guns have fallen by the wayside as the season has progressed. During the regular season, the Nets only managed a 7th-place finish after a series of injuries left them with gaping holes in their roster. Things went from bad to worse for them in the playoffs, but to the benefit of the Boston Celtics, who won 4-0 games in the first round.
Over on the west coast, things were just as dire for LA’s two teams. After starting as second favourites, the Lakers failed to make the playoffs – one of the most prominent underperformances in the history of the league. The team lost 49 games in the regular season, 50% more than they won. The Clippers, a team who had been a strong contender for the last few years, finished 8th in the regular season but didn’t make it out of the play-in tournament, losing 0-2 to the New Orleans Pelicans.
But here we are, after all the surprises and upsets, and we have a final showdown between two teams that few really expected to make it to the end – and in true NBA fashion, it’s going to be tense.
The Bodog sportsbook, we’re all eyes, ears and odds as the first of the finals matches sets the pace for the subsequent five. Will the Warriors pick up a seventh NBA Championship or will the Celtics be picking up their first since 2008? Let’s take a look at the NBA Finals betting odds to find out.
Golden State Warriors (-160)
At odds of -160, Golden State have come a long way, baby.
As we noted, the Golden State Warriors were not the favourite going into the season. In fact, back in the summer of 2021, the Warriors had odds of over +1000, far behind those of the Bucks, The Nets, and the Lakers.
Since then they had been on an almost continual downwards trajectory into favourite territory. They dropped to +900 by the time the season got underway and +450 by the New Year. The odds did bounce back up in April as well as when heading into the first round of the playoffs, especially after James Wiseman was ruled out for the rest of the season because of his knee injury.
But a string of late-season wins and a decisive victory over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs put most of the concerns behind them.
Of the two teams in the final, the Warriors are the most experienced in recent history. They’ve won three NBA Championships since 2015, the most recent of which was in 2018. They were also in the finals in 2016 and 2019, an impressive run of form.
However, trades, salary caps, and a move from Oakland to San Francisco caused a lot of disruption in the team, forcing them to restructure and rebuild for a couple of years. As part of this, they picked up one of the top Canadians in the NBA, Andrew Wiggins, as well as Jordan Poole and Moses Moody, all of which have turned out to be very shrewd acquisitions.
They also still have Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, and Stephen Curry, players who were crucial in the success of the mid-2010s.
With that in mind, we know they have what it takes to go all the way, which will give them loads of confidence when they go in to take on the Celtics.
Boston Celtics (+135)
The Boston Celtics are certainly a surprise inclusion in the NBA Finals, but they have proven themselves worthy of the honour this season. After starting with odds of +4000, the underdog status of +135 heading into the final round of the playoffs is an impressive achievement.
In the regular season, the Celtics finished second behind the Miami Heat with a 51-31 record, putting them in similar territory to the Warriors who finished 53-29. Not only that, but throughout the playoffs, the Celtics have dunked all over big teams and even the outright favourites.
In the first round, they took on the Brooklyn Nets, the team that had had the best odds for much of the last year. In the first game, the Celtics came out on top by a single point and went on to dominate, finishing 4-0.
The next round saw them take on the Milwaukee Bucks, another team that had been tipped for NBA Championship glory. This time, it wasn’t such a one-sided fight, but the underdog Celtics held on to beat the Bucks 109-81 in the seventh game.
After beating the Heat 4-3 in the Conference Finals, the Celtics will be ready to do it all over again.
If they can manage it, it will end the team’s 14-year drought after last picking up a title back in 2008. It’s an impressive feat for Ime Udoka, who, since his appointment as head coach for the Celtics just 12 months ago, has already turned the team’s fortunes around.
He’s been helped by star players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart, all of whom have upped their game since the start of the playoffs, seemingly unable to put a foot wrong.
Based on the Celtics’ tendency to outplay teams that appear stronger than them on paper, we very well could see an underdog victory along the lines of the 2019 Raptors win. It is, after all, the season of the underdog.
With so much at stake between these two teams, we can expect a determined and breathless competition throughout their matches. Whoever ultimately wins the Larry O’Brien trophy will have a comparable narrative for the NBL history books; a team who swooped past the favourites from behind and prevailed against the odds with an unexpected return to form. But who will it be? Your NBA finals betting slips might just hold the answer.