BetMGM doesn’t have to worry about the Denver Nuggets anymore.
More bets and more money were wagered on the Nuggets to win the NBA Finals than any other team at BetMGM. The Nuggets were the biggest burden BetMGM had in that market, but that ended Sunday night when the Minnesota Timberwolves stormed back and won Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference finals and eliminate the Nuggets.
The Nuggets’ loss also has a major effect on the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics have been the obvious favorites to win the championship for weeks, and they lost one potential pitfall with the reigning champions gone. The odds indicate that the Celtics’ path to a title is very clear, especially now that the Nuggets are out.
Celtics are favorites to win the title
The Celtics went from +125 (bet $100 to win $125) to win the title before the second round to -150 (bet $150 to win $100) to win it all when the conference finals begin.
It’s rare for a team with a slim chance to win the championship before the conference finals begin, but there’s also no clear contender for the Celtics at this point.
The Celtics’ chances of beating the Indiana Pacers in the East look more like a first-round series between a No. 1 and No. 8 seed. The Celtics are -900 to beat the Pacers. That gives the Celtics an implied 90% chance of beating the Pacers, which is rare for a conference finals game. But the Celtics won the East by 14 games and outscored the Pacers by 17 games during the regular season. Part of the reason the Celtics are well ahead of every other team in NBA Championship odds is that the East has been surprisingly weak this season.
At this point, not winning a championship would be a pretty big disappointment for the Celtics.
Who can beat Boston?
The Nuggets weren’t the top seed in the West, but they were the favorites to get the win before each of the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The West is much deeper and better, and Boston had to enjoy watching the top teams cannibalize each other. The Oklahoma City Thunder, the top seed in the West, were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks. The No. 2 seed Nuggets are also out.
The Timberwolves are +260 to win the NBA Finals and the Mavericks are +500. Minnesota was a revelation in the playoffs and the Mavericks have been very good since the trade deadline. Both teams have big stars, but neither would be a significant underdog in the NBA Finals. The Celtics have been just as dominant.
We may be in for a surprise during the final weeks of the NBA postseason. But now that the Nuggets are out, there’s no reason why Boston can’t win it all.
