2017 NBA Playoff Preview: Western Conference Odds, Betting Trends

The Golden State Warriors have not only earned the best record in the Western Conference in each of the three years under head coach Steve Kerr but have also achieved the top mark in the NBA every season during that stretch.

That obviously includes 2017 as the Warriors ended up at 67-15 for the second time in three years and enter the playoffs as -250 favorites (bet $250 to win $100) on the odds to win the Western Conference for the third straight season at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

With Golden State, it is all about winning the NBA championship, though, as last year’s record-setting 73-9 mark was not validated with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Instead, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers who rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to win their first NBA title, making the Warriors go out and sign free agent Kevin Durant in the offseason.

Durant’s health will be one of the keys to the postseason after returning from a scary knee injury that occurred on February 28. Golden State needs him to stay on the court to help take pressure off former NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who was worn down at the end of last year’s playoff run.

A combination of Durant and Curry is almost unstoppable and gives the Warriors, sitting at a league-best 57.6 percent chance to win the NBA title (according to PredictionMachine.com), a clear advantage over any other team.

In the West, there are a few teams that could challenge Golden State, but it is a select few. The most notable are the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs (61-21) and the third-seeded Houston Rockets (55-27), with one of them likely knocking the other out in the second round.

The Spurs are the +300 second choice (bet $100 to win $300) to take the West crown for the seventh time, and they chased the Warriors for the best record most of the season before faltering down the stretch. San Antonio’s defense could pose problems for Golden State in a potential Western Conference Finals matchup if head coach Gregg Popovich can find a way to mimic what Cleveland did in last year’s NBA Finals.

Houston is also intriguing at +750 to win the West under first-year head coach Mike D’Antoni. The Rockets ranked second in the league in scoring at 115.3 points per game, less than a point behind the Warriors, who they met in the Western Conference Finals two years ago.

But Houston is a better team this season with star James Harden transitioning to point guard and becoming a legit MVP candidate.

It would be a major upset if the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers (51-31), fifth-seeded Utah Jazz (51-31), sixth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (47-35), seventh-seeded Memphis Grizzlies (43-39) or eighth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers (41-41) represented the West in the NBA Finals. That almost goes without saying.

The Clippers (+2500 to win the West) have the most talent of that group with a potential second-round matchup against the Warriors looming if both advance as expected. Los Angeles has won 18 of the past 20 meetings with Utah, according to the OddsShark NBA Database.