While the NBA playoffs intensify, we at BetUS (pronounced Bet U.S.) are eager to bring you the latest updates on the Eastern Conference teams. BetUS Sportsbook (BetUS.com) is the original online sportsbook, set to celebrate 30 years in business later this year.
The field of contenders in the NBA’s Eastern Conference has been narrowed from 15 to 4 and those teams that remain – the Celtics, Sixers, Knicks and Heat – all started the season with drastically longer odds to win both the Conference and the Championship.
The Boston Celtics started the season with 3-to-1 (+300) odds of taking the conference title. Fast forward to today and their odds of making it to the Finals have surged to –143 (5/7), making them the clear favorite to reach the NBA Finals.
The Philadelphia 76ers have also bolstered their chances significantly, improving their season-opening odds to win the conference from 8-to-1 to 3-to-1 at BetUS.
But no team has surprised like The Knicks, which have improved their odds to take the conference by more than tenfold – from season opening odds of 66-to-1 to 6-to-1 today.
To add to the intrigue, both conference semifinals (Heat vs Knicks and 76ers vs Celtics) are currently tied at 1-1, meaning that all teams have won one game out of two played.
And that, of course, gets us to the current odds of winning the Championship – and as the race to win the conference has tightened, it should be no surprise that the odds for each team to advance and win it all in the Championship have also seen some dramatic changes since the season’s onset.
The Boston Celtics have seen their chances of clinching a Championship victory soar, going from 6/1 (+600) to 2/1 (+200) and currently standing at 7/4 (+175), positioning the Celtics as not only the clear favorites to win the Conference but to win the 2023 Championship as well.
The 76ers have also seen their Championship odds improve by a drastic margin at BetUS, having nearly doubled their odds of winning the Championship from a season-opening 14/1 (+1400) to 15/2 (+750) today.
The New York Knicks started the season with odds of 150/1 (+15000) and have managed to better their Championship odds six-fold as they advanced in the playoffs of the Eastern Conference, now standing at 25/1 (+2500).
Of the remaining Eastern Conference contenders, only the Miami Heat have seen their odds to win the Championship worsen, starting at 10/1 (+1000) before the season began to 25/1 (+2500) today.