Summary
The Celtics have been the frontrunners to win the East all season and enter the playoffs as prohibitive odds-on favorites. The Celtics won the Eastern Conference by a whopping 14 games over the second-place Knicks. The Knicks, Bucks, 76ers, Cavaliers and Heat are all dealing with injuries to star players. The 76ers have won 32 of the 40 games Joel Embiid has played in this season. That's an 80.0-percent win rate even better than the Celtics' 78.0 percent rate. But, at -200, there isn't enough juice for me, so I'm actually fading the Celtics. 76ers would be excellent value at +675 if Embiid is and can stay healthy. The Bucks were preseason favorites after trading for Damian Lillard, but never seemed to fully click in the regular season. They lost their MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, to a calf-strain in the last week of the season. The defending champion Nuggets are favorites to win the West again this season. The line between the Nuggets and the rest of the West seems much thinner than last season. With that said, anything can happen in the playoffs, and we've already mentioned how injuries have struck the majority of the contending teams. The Mavericks won 16 of 18 games before clinching their playoffs seeding and resting players in the last two games. Luka Doncic averaged a virtual 30-point triple-double with 31.3 PPG, 10.2 RPG and 9.9 APG. The Timberwolves and Lakers are both getting longshot odds despite having teams capable of winning the conference. The Thunder have winning records against both the four-seed Mavericks and the fifth-seeded Clippers. The Lakers have well-publicized difficulties with the Nuggets, losing all nine of their most recent games. The Lakers have been competitive in almost every game before fading late. Jayson Tatum and Nikola Jokic are the frontrunners to win the Finals MVP. The Celtics and Nuggets are the two frontrunners for the title. The Bucks and Mavericks are also in the hunt. I'm fading the frontrunners because there isn't enough juice to justify them. I do find some value in each of the other teams/players listed above. Doncic and Embiid are of the most interest. Both play for scorching teams entering the postseason.