Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
The NBA’s regular season was set to conclude next Wednesday, April 15. Of course, the coronavirus forced the league to shut down on the night of March 11. Will the league be able to complete the regular season? That seems very unlikely as teams generally have around 18 games remaining. Some cities may not “reopen” until late summer.
More likely, the NBA will skip right to the postseason if that’s even possible. Again, the thought of having 16 cities hosting games (eight playoff teams in each conference) is likely a pipedream. What has been floated is a postseason tournament in one location – most likely Las Vegas and without any fans in attendance.
That way, the NBA could somewhat keep the players self-quarantined all in one spot. Basketball bettors and the TV networks would take any hoops action at this point, even if the playoff games are played in rather non-descript gyms or even makeshift ballrooms in those empty Vegas resorts. For what it’s worth, executives at Fox Sports recently told advertising executives that they believed sports as a whole could return by late June or early July, and that’s early enough for the NBA to hold some sort of postseason.
The favored NBA Finals matchup at +190 is no surprise as it’s the Milwaukee Bucks vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. All-Star captains Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. LeBron James. The Bucks have the league’s best record and are atop the East, while the Lakers have the West’s best record – although earning home-court advantage probably won’t matter this year. The Bucks and Lakers split their regular-season meetings, each winning at home.
Next is Clippers vs. Bucks at +275 as the Clippers were second in the West behind the Lakers. Antetokounmpo and Clippers star Kawhi Leonard faced off in last year’s East Finals when Kawhi was with the Toronto Raptors, and Leonard led a 4-2 series win. Milwaukee won both regular-season meetings with the Clips in 2019-20, but they were early in the year. Los Angeles was without Leonard and Paul George in the first matchup.
Lakers vs. Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets vs. Bucks are both +1000. The Finals matchup with the shortest odds that doesn’t feature either the Lakers or Bucks is Clippers vs. Celtics at +1600. Current Clippers coach Doc Rivers was in the same role with Boston for nine seasons.
