NBA Playoffs Betting Preview: Golden State Warriors Top Western Conference Odds
The Golden State Warriors head into the 2015 NBA playoffs as the team to beat in the Western Conference at 11-10 odds. They're also one of two co-favorites to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy along with the Cleveland Cavaliers at 11-5, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Warriors posted a franchise-best 67-15 record during the regular season under first-year head coach Steve Kerr and may not be tested until the Western Conference Finals.
Led by sharpshooting guards Stephen Curry–one of the favorites to win NBA MVP honors–and Klay Thompson, Golden State will open the postseason by facing the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans (45-37) in the first round.
The Pelicans pulled off their biggest win on the final day of the regular season, upsetting the San Antonio Spurs 108-103 as 5.5-point home underdogs to steal the final spot in the West and push the Spurs down from the second seed (and Southwest Division champions) to sixth. New Orleans is the longest shot to win the West at 75-1 and 150-1 on the odds to win the NBA title.
Regardless, the Spurs (55-27) still would have been in the other half of the Western Conference playoff bracket opposite the Warriors, but now they will not have home-court advantage if they meet the second-seeded Houston Rockets (56-26) in the second round.
Still, San Antonio figures to be favored in that series if both teams survive the first round, and the defending NBA champions are the 2-1 second choice to win the West and 7-2 on the NBA betting futures to successfully defend their league title.
The Spurs will square off against the third-seeded Los Angeles Clippers (56-26) in the first round and opened as small favorites to win this series as well. The Clippers are 9-1 to win the West and 18-1 to win the championship. They won the last two meetings with the Spurs as underdogs after losing the first two.
The Rockets will face the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks (50-32) in the first round and will get to see if it was worth losing free-agent forward Chandler Parsons to their intrastate rivals in the offseason.
The Mavs lost three of four regular-season meetings with Houston both straight-up and against the spread, according to the OddsShark NBA Database. The Rockets are 8-1 to win the West and 14-1 to win the NBA title, while Dallas is 22-1 and 40-1, respectively.
Finally, the fourth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers (51-31) and fifth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies (55-27) are likely playing for an opportunity to upset the Warriors in the second round.
The Grizzlies are 12-1 to win the West and 33-1 to win the championship as one of five teams from the Southwest Division to make the playoffs, holding the lead there for much of the year.
The Blazers dominated the Northwest Division thanks in part to the injury-plagued Oklahoma City Thunder's failure to make the postseason. They have 22-1 odds to win the conference and 40-1 to take home their first NBA title since 1977.
