The Boston Celtics opened the 2022-2023 season as second favorites to win the NBA championship at +650. After a dominant year where they finished second in the entire league with a 57-25 record, they entered the playoffs as favorites at +350.
The leap in odds is warranted, as Boston is more complete than the squad that made the finals last year. They addressed their glaring depth issues by adding Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari in the offseason and have not missed a step despite all the coaching drama that happened a few months ago.
After a dominating win in Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks, their odds have gotten even shorter to win the chip. Let’s look into the Celtics’ current odds to win the NBA Championship on the Bet MGM Sportsbook and decide if there is any value in betting Boston to win the whole thing.
Boston Celtics Current Odds To Win NBA Championship (+285)Boston obliterated Atlanta in the opening game of their playoff campaign with a 112-99 win at home. The team is currently +285 to win the title and +125 to win the Eastern Conference.
This odds change is primarily due to their East competitors getting weaker due to injury. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Tyler Herro suffered injuries in Game 1 between the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. Besides that, bookies clearly expect the winner to come out of the East. Milwaukee, Boston, and Philadelphia are three of the top five favorites to win the entire thing. All three teams had better regular season records than anyone in the Western Conference.
Nonetheless, the Celtics deserve to be the favorites for the championship this year. They ranked second in defensive efficiency and third in offensive efficiency. No other team entering the postseason cracked the top five in both. They are the second-best three-point shooting team in the NBA, averaging 16 makes per game on 37.7% shooting.
Furthermore, the team undoubtedly improved this offseason by adding Brogdon. He is the frontrunner for the Sixth Man of the Year award, having career highs in three-point percentage (44.4) and games played (67), and immediately fixed Boston’s ball-handling issues. The team ticks every box and has every quality a championship-winning team should possess.
Bettors have reacted to this, with Boston holding the highest ticket % (13) and handle % (17) on BetMGM Sportsbook. Fans, bettors, and bookies agree that this is the team to beat.
As good as the Celtics are, it’s hard to put money on them at such short odds. They will have to go through two of the best teams in the league before even making the NBA finals, and +285 to go through four playoff series feels like a fool’s bet. One of the teams they will have to beat along the way is a motivated Philadelphia 76ers, led by the NBA MVP favorite, Joel Embiid. The other is the Bucks, who won a chip two years ago and pushed Boston to seven games last year. Neither of these will be a cakewalk.
That’s why I would avoid taking Boston to win the title if you can’t get anything better than +350. They are the best overall team, but the risk of advancing through four straight rounds outweighs the reward of a +285 futures bet.
Buy or Sell: Sell The Celtics +285 to Win the NBA Championship.
