NBA Championship Odds: Celtics Clear Favorites to Repeat

The Boston Celtics routed the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night for their first championship since 2008 and 18th title overall, breaking a tie for the most with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Can the Celtics repeat next June? The Bookies already have installed them as clear +280 favorites.

Boston Celtics Champions

The Celtics are the sixth different NBA champion in the last six seasons.

Playoffs for Boston Celtics

That run involved six trips to the Eastern Conference finals, including last year’s loss in seven games to the Heat, when Boston became the fourth team ever to force a Game 7 after falling behind 3-0.

Jayson Tatum

“I mean, this is going to be a night that I will remember for the rest of my life, from the game, the celebration, these moments,” Tatum said. “Over the last couple years, we had some tough losses at home in the playoffs. We’ve lost the NBA championship at home in front of our fans. We had a chance to beat Miami in Game 6 a few years ago and lost that one.”

Tatum and Brown are just 26 and 27, respectively. Tatum has made first-team All-NBA in three straight seasons. Brown made third-team last season and barely missed this season. No team has a better 1-2 punch at such a young age. The fact the Celtics play in the Eastern Conference, which appears to be much easier to navigate in the years ahead than the daunting Western Conference, helps, too.

Monday was veteran Al Horford’s 186th career postseason game with three different teams in the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston. It marked his first title after Horford had played in more playoff games than any other active player in the league without one.

Karl Malone holds the record for most postseason games without a title (193). Horford became the fourth player to win his first title in his 17th season or later, joining Juwan Howard (18th year), Kevin Willis (18th) and Mavericks coach Jason Kidd (17th, with the Mavericks in 2011).

Kristaps Porzingis

Every key player should be back for Boston including Kristaps Porzingis, who was unable to play in Games 3 and 4 and limited to 16 minutes in Game 5 due to a leg injury. He will have surgery and need a few months rehab but should be ready to start the 2024-25 season.

Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in Game 2 — an injury the team described as “rare” in its news release.

2024-2025 Season

As the defending NBA champion, Boston will open the 2024-25 regular season at home at some point in mid-October TBA – probably the 22nd – to raise that championship banner.

The Denver Nuggets of course were the 2023 NBA champions, their first title, but their repeat chances ended this year in a seven-game loss to Minnesota in the West semifinals.

Dereck Lively II, who looks like a future All-Star at center, just finished his rookie season. Their starting lineup, which went 27-6 before the Finals, was assembled at the trade deadline and should only improve with continuity.