Celtics on course for first NBA Championship win since 2008

Updated April 19, 2024
Updated April 19, 2024By Dean Etheridge

The regular NBA season is coming to an end, and this weekend is the start of the 2024 NBA postseason playoffs. The Boston Celtics are the betting favorites to win the Championship Series. But the Denver Nuggets are the defending champions and will have plenty to say. In our latest NBA betting futures, we tell you who will win this year.

2024 Nba Championship Futures And Betting Picks

It feels a little bit like Groundhog Day with the Boston Celtics. Throughout the majority of the 2022/23 season, they were the favorites. Then in the Conference Finals, they went and lost to the Miami Heat.

In 2023/24, it has – so far – been the same story. The Celtics have been favorites for pretty much the entire season. But with the favorites tag comes expectation. Last year, they couldn’t live up to it. This season they are a year older and wiser. So can they finally get the job done in 2024?

2024 NBA Championship Winner Betting

The best NBA playoffs betting sites favor the Boston Celtics. They have throughout the season. And with the postseason set to start, the Celtics are now just +160 to win a record 18th Championship.

The closest team to Boston in the betting is the Denver Nuggets. Last year the Nuggets came to life in the postseason. Led by a combination of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter, the Nuggets were on another level in the playoffs. 

Mike Malone’s team won 16 of the 20 matches they played. They even managed to sweep the Lakers in a ridiculously one-sided conference finals. And when they came to face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, the writing was on the wall from very early on.

To repeat last season’s win, the Nuggets are +300

Confirming how much the bookmakers think this is between two franchises, the third betting favorites are the Dallas Mavericks, the LA Clippers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. All three are +1400.  

Below are more options from different sportsbooks on our NBA betting table. You can read more about the bookmakers we have used on our best betting sites 2024 page.

2023/24 NBA Championship Winner BettingBetOnlineBetUSBovada
Boston Celtics+160+160+160
Dener Nuggets+300+300+300
Dallas Mavericks+1400+1400+1400
Los Angeles Clippers+1400+1400+1400
Oklahoma City Thunder+1400+1400+1400
Milwaukee Bucks+1600+1600+1600
LA Lakers+1800+1800+1800
Minnesota Timberwolves+1800+1800+1800
Philadelphia 76ers+1800+1800+1800
Phoenix Suns+2000+2000+2000
New York Knicks+3500+3500+3500
Cleveland Cavaliers+5000+5000+5000
Indiana Pacers+7500+7500+7500
New Orleans Pelicans+8000+8000+8000
Sacramento Kings+8000+8000+8000
Miami Heat+10000+10000+10000
Orlando Magic+15000+15000+15000
Chicago Bulls+25000+25000+25000

We already know the two outstanding favorites to win the 2024 NBA Championship are the Celtics and the Nuggets. So let’s take a closer look at both franchises.  

Is this Boston’s time?

The Boston Celtics finished the regular season with a 64-18 record. They were 14 wins ahead of the Knicks, who finished second on 50-32. 

No one in the whole of the NBA has come close to matching the Celtics’ record.

But we’ve seen before. This is where the real work begins for Joe Mazzulla and his team. And if they fall short again, Mazzulla could find himself coming under fire. So there is pressure both on and off the court for the Celtics. 

The Celtics’ outstanding season in 2023/24 has seen them named the No.1 seeds, meaning they will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The last time they had home advantage was in 2008. And we all know what happened that year

As things stand, Boston doesn’t know who they will take on in the 1st Round of the Playoffs. They need to wait for the end of the Play-In Tournament for confirmation.

In the betting to win the Eastern Conference, Boston is -200 with the best NBA betting sites

Nuggets looking for back-to-back championships

The Denver Nuggets have reached the playoffs for a sixth successive season. Mike Malone’s team goes into the postseason as the No.2 seed in the Western Conference due to the tiebreaker rule. Oklahoma City is the No.1 seed. 

Despite this, the Nuggets are still the favorites to win the Conference Finals at -145. Oklahoma is next at +600

In the First Round of the playoffs, the Nuggets will be facing the LA Lakers. This gives LeBron and Co. the chance to gain some real revenge for last year’s humiliation in the Conference Finals. 

But it may also get the Nuggets going again. And if they can get to the level they showed 12 months ago, it could fire them to a second successive NBA Championship.

Our Betting Pick to win the 2024 NBA Championship  

We feel this will be a final between the Celtics and the Nuggets. The Celtics have been the standout team all season. The Nuggets have big-game players who know how to win Championships. 

For our betting pick, we have to go with the Celtics. We picked them earlier in the season. We can’t abandon them now.

Boston CelticsTo win 2024 NBA Championship
+160
Bet Now

But we do like the look of the Nuggets. And we wouldn’t be against backing them now, especially as they are better odds than the Celtics. And if the two franchises make the finals, we would have it down as a 50/50 call, so a small cover bet on Denver won’t go amiss. 

Denver NuggetsTo win 2024 NBA Championship
+300
Bet Now

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About the Author

Dean Etheridge
Dean Etheridge

Dean is primarily a fan of English football who regularly attends games, and combining his hobby with his job, he is now a full-time sports betting writer. Rather than going down the educational route into sports journalism, Dean learned his trade by writing for his English football betting website since 2009, where he now boasts nearly 15 years of experience. After writing about football daily for years, Dean has taken the skills he learned and now uses them to great effect writing for numerous affiliate sites across the internet. A general all-around sports enthusiast with a passion for English football and cricket, Dean is also well able to turn his hand to writing about golf, tennis, F1, boxing, snooker, darts, and North American sports. Combining his extensive knowledge and experience with British humor and wit, Dean has developed into a trusted voice within the sports betting industry.

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