2025 NBA Championship Betting Odds: Thunder Knock Celtics From Top Of Leaderboard

The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics are no longer the betting favorite to capture the 2025 title, as the Oklahoma City Thunder now sit atop the odds leaderboard at +240, just barely ahead of the Celtics who are at +250 as of Friday, January 17, 2025.

Here's a look at where Oklahoma City, Boston, and all other contenders currently sit in the race for the Larry O'Brien trophy.

2025 NBA Championship odds

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2025 NBA Championship Betting Favorite: Oklahoma City Thunder

In the Western Conference, there's the Thunder and then there's everyone else. The degree of separation between them and the rest of the pack is staggering, creating a mindset that it may truly be a foregone conclusion that Oklahoma City will be returning to the Finals for the first time since 2012.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to capture the first Most Valuable Player win of his career after once being viewed as a throw-in for the Paul George trade involving the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder are finding success and maintaining a stranglehold atop the win-loss column despite not having Chet Holmgren around due to injury, and his inevitable return will only further embolden a young roster which feels like it can hang with anyone and accomplish anything. 

2025 NBA Championship Contender: Boston Celtics

The dog days of the regular season are catching up with Boston, who look disinterested, unmotivated, and uninspired as of late. This spurred recent comments from Kristaps Porzingis following a loss to the lowly Toronto Raptors, saying the team has to look in the mirror after competing with no spirit or personality after getting blown out by an inferior opponent.

The Celtics are 12-9 since Dec. 1, which isn't awful, but certainly well beneath the expectations for a team as stacked as they are. No one is sounding the alarm as of yet, because surely Boston will turn it on when it matters most and likely steamroll its way through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket like it did last year. Then again, the level of competition around them is steadily rising, and no one looks afraid of the green and white any longer.

2025 NBA Finalists Odds

Odds as of January 17, 2025 at FanDuel

2025 Exact NBA Finals Result Odds

Odds as of January 17, 2025 at FanDuel

NBA Championship Betting Strategy

Much of what formulates odds for NBA title contenders obviously stems from regular-season success. However, once the postseason comes and goes, how far a team advances can greatly impact the championship odds heading into next year before free agency and the draft gets underway.

What Impacts NBA Championship Odds?

How To Bet On NBA Futures

An NBA futures bet tends to revolve around the outcomes of both the regular season and playoffs as opposed to specific games the day of.

Here are some examples of some of the more popular futures bets:

Last 10 NBA Championship Winners

The Celtics' win in 2024 marked the sixth-different champion in as many years, a feat which hadn't been accomplished by the league since 1975-80.

The last team to win consecutive championships was the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. That capped off a 10-year run in which only five different teams (Warriors, Lakers, Mavericks, Cavaliers, and Spurs) won a title.

NBA Teams With The Most Championships

Boston's 2024 win moved it past the Los Angeles Lakers for the most championship wins by a single franchise in league history. 

The Bulls are the most efficient, sweeping six titles during the 1990s, and the Warriors have the most recent title wins, with four in the last ten years.

NBA Teams That Have Never Appeared In A Finals

What a sad, sad list of teams. If you’re a fan of these squads, apologies in advance — your team (probably) isn’t breaking the curse this year. Never say never though! The Clippers and Pelicans have made exciting runs recently, we’re all rooting for them to make it eventually.

NBA Championship Odds Trends