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NBA Christmas Day games are right around the corner, which means the value in the futures market will start correcting itself more and more as we inch closer to the halfway mark of the 2025-26 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the talk of the West with a 24-2 start reminiscent of the 2015-16 Warriors and 1995-96 Bulls, while the Detroit Pistons have surged to the top of the East with a surprising 21-5 record.
The Thunder lead the way in odds for NBA Champion and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner to win MVP, but the West is loaded. Can Oklahoma City repeat as champions? Can SGA repeat and win back-to-back MVPs? Let’s talk about it.
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Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & team props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
NBA Finals Winner: Thunder (+110) | Nuggets (+650) | Rockets (+1100) | Lakers (+1300) | Knicks (+1300) | Pistons (+2000) | Cavaliers (+2500) | Spurs (+2500)
The Thunder are off to a historic 24-2 start and most experts and the public, including myself believe this team is capable of breaking the Warriors win record, if not coming a few games short. The current state of the NBA is down right now with so many teams tanking short-term with load management and in tough travel spots or long-term with sitting players for stretches to enhance their chances in the draft lottery.
Incidentally enough, Oklahoma City was built on a little bit of that with draft capital acquired during back-to-back finishes of 22-50 and 24-58 in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. In 2025-26, Denver is the biggest competition to Oklahoma City with the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets following. I question whether Houston has the depth to beat Oklahoma City and if the Lakers have the defense. Denver’s success will be dependent on the health of role players or how much Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray can handle.
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I’m going to go out on a limb and say no team in the East can withstand a seven-game series with Oklahoma City. I know the Pacers pushed the Thunder to seven games last season and Indiana had a chance to win, but that was also the first NBA…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-finals-mvp-odds-predictions-212735687.html
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Publish date : 2025-12-18 21:27:00
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