2010 NBA Championship Odds, Free Picks, & Predictions
April 15th, 2010 by | Posted in NBA Basketball Comments Off on 2010 NBA Championship Odds, Free Picks, & PredictionsThe 2010 NBA Playoffs betting lines are here, and Bankroll Sports has all of the action covered from wall to wall as the 16 teams left standing in the season battle it out for the right to be called champions!
There are three clear cut favorites above all else in this tournament, as one of the three of the Cleveland Cavaliers (+125 at Diamond Sportsbook), the Orlando Magic (+575 at Diamond Sportsbook), and the Los Angeles Lakers (+180 at Diamond Sportsbook) are expected to reign supreme as the champs.
And why not? The Cavaliers had the NBA’s best record this season at 61-21, and their record was largely only that bad because HC Mike Brown treated the L/3 weeks of the regular season as if they were a whole bunch of scrimmages. That’s why F LeBron James didn’t win the NBA’s scoring title as well.
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Orlando, who ultimately only finished two games behind the Cavs for the top record in the NBA, will hold home court advantage through the entire playoffs including the Finals against any team not named Cleveland. The Magic were absolutely fantastic over the second half of the season. They finished up the year having won six straight games and went 33-8 in their L/41 NBA betting battles in the regular season. Last season’s Eastern Conference champs proved that they could play with Cleveland this year, splitting four games, but the final one came without the services of the King for the Cavs, who was resting for the playoffs.
The Lakers don’t seem to be as strong as they were a year ago in their quest to repeat as NBA champs. Even though record wise, 57-25 probably isn’t the year that HC Phil Jackson was hoping for, there’s no doubt that this is still a team to be reckoned with and has to be considered the definitive favorite in the West. G Kobe Bryant, F Pau Gasol, and their supporting cast have gained a ton of experience from title runs of the past, and if C Andrew Bynum can really get back on the court following his Achilles injury, the purple and gold are going to be a difficult team to oust.
We find it awfully difficult to back anyone outside of the “Big Three” for the title.
However, if we had to pick underdogs in both the Eastern and Western Conferences, we’ll go with the Milwaukee Bucks (+5000 at Diamond Sportsbook) and the Phoenix Suns (+3000 at Diamond Sportsbook).
The Bucks are a bit of a long shot because of the fact that they lost C Andrew Bogut for the rest of the season. However, HC Scott Skiles is largely accepted as one of the best coaches in the league and must be remembered for the way that he handled the Baby Bulls in postseasons of the past. Skiles knows how to get the most out of a lesser talented set of players, and even without the team’s star, there are still plenty of scoring options that can stick around with Atlanta in Round 1 of the playoffs.
The Suns did everything they had to do down the stretch to assure that they A) don’t have to worry about the Lakers for awhile and B) get to play at home in the first round of the playoffs. Not only that, but they hit the jackpot as well, as they get to play a Portland team that most likely won’t have Brandon Roy (and certainly won’t have a 100% Roy) for this round of the playoffs. If that’s the case, it’s hard to see how the Blazers are going to be able to keep up with the scoring options of the Suns in a seven game set. If by chance Phoenix does survive into Round 2, it feels like a prospective date with Dallas would inevitably be a seven game set. We’ll take our chances.
Odds to win 2010 NBA Championship @ Diamond Sportsbook (as of 4/15/10):
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Atlanta Hawks +1600
Boston Celtics +1300
Charlotte Bobcats +5000
Chicago Bulls +7500
Cleveland Cavaliers +125
Dallas Mavericks +1600
Denver Nuggets +1600
Los Angeles Lakers +180
Miami Heat +5000
Milwaukee Bucks +5000
Oklahoma City Thunder +1900
Orlando Magic +575
Phoenix Suns +2200
Portland Trail Blazers +3600
San Antonio Spurs +1600
Utah Jazz +1600