With the NBA Playoffs Now in Full Steam Ahead Mode, Which Teams Have the Best Odds to Win the Title?

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The Philadelphia 76ers had a good regular season, and most likely will have the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player–Joel Embiid–when the votes are tallied sometime in the coming weeks.

But for fans, and bettors, of the Sixers, what they REALLY want is a championship.

And not just a conference championship: Philadelphia has seen enough of them recently without a title. Since the start of 2022, the Phillies, the Union, and the Eagles have all made it to their respective finals, only to lose and break the hearts of the whole Delaware Valley.

The Sixers couldn’t do that to fans, and bettors, again, could they?

Well, if you look at the odds to win the Eastern Conference right now, in the middle of the first round of games, Philadelphia is currently listed at +300 when checking NJ.bet to win the Eastern Conference title, behind the two higher-seeded teams, the Milwaukee Bucks (odds of +120) and the Boston Celtics (odds of +130).

Those odds should remain about the same until after the Eastern semifinals: by then, either the Sixers or Celtics will be out, and we will know which two teams are going to do battle for in the East finals.

The Sixers are also the fifth choice to win the NBA title, at odds of +700, behind the Bucks (+260), Celtics (+275), Phoenix Suns (+550), and Denver Nuggets (+675). 

If you like any of those teams to win the title, you might want to get them now, before the odds drop heading into the final eight.

But the main question for bettors in South Jersey is, can this Philadelphia team really win the title, 40 years on since its last NBA championship and 32 years since it last made a finals appearance? Those are pretty daunting numbers for a proud franchise that went to three finals in four seasons to start the 1980s.

The problem is, the Bucks won the title in 2021, and could have done so again in 2022 if they were healthy in the playoffs. Milwaukee also has home court throughout the playoffs, and that could prove pivotal.

Boston could also prove to be a stumbling once again, like it was last year. Philly has a good team, but there might be better ones in the East, and it could prove to be heartbreak city for fans–and backers–of the Sixers.

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