- The Brooklyn Nets are on top of the NBA Finals futures odds boards.
- The Milwaukee Bucks are in third on the futures boards, mostly because they have to play the Nets.
- Both teams seem to be legitimate contenders, but the Nets are notably favored.
LAS VEGAS - The NBA’s Western Conference may have had some weird and intriguing outcomes so far these playoffs, but the East has been very straightforward.
The Brooklyn Nets handily dispatched with the Boston Celtics in their first-round series, while the Milwaukee Bucks swept the Miami Heat out of the playoffs.
These two teams are quite high on the list of teams that could conceivably win the NBA Finals, with the Nets at +170 odds and the Bucks at +600 odds on the futures odds boards.
The Bucks have notably longer odds than the Nets on the online sportsbooks, but that is due to the fact that they have to play the Nets.
The Nets are obviously favored in the series - a team of James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant has no real matches for star power - but the Bucks could be a solid underdog play.
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Brooklyn Nets Series Odds
- Milwaukee Bucks +170
- Brooklyn Nets -200
The Nets, being favored to win it all this year, might be meeting their toughest test of the playoffs in the second round.
The Bucks are quietly elite - they’ve been overshadowed in the East by the Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers, but were top ten in both offensive and defensive rating during the season.
In addition, the adjustments to their game plan to defeat a Miami Heat team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year showed a level of growth that might have been unexpected. With Joel Embiid suffering from a torn meniscus and Lebron James and Anthony Davis eliminated, the Bucks could be the last serious hurdle between the Nets and a championship.
Game 1 sees the Nets as slightly less favored than they are to win the series overall, but in the same ballpark.
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Brooklyn Nets Game 1 Odds
- Milwaukee Bucks +150
- Brooklyn Nets -170
The Bucks have +150 odds to steal Game 1, and doing so would also steal homecourt advantage, which is with the Nets in this series.
Should they take Game 1, their odds will likely get far shorter in terms of the series as a whole, and Game 1 could be a weathervane for the entire series. Frankly, there are a lot of questions about this matchup that went unanswered in the regular season, and it could be one of the most exciting series’ remaining in the playoffs.
Sports bettors might wonder if this is finally the year the Bucks put it all together - and if it will even matter in the face of the juggernaut of star power that is the Brooklyn Nets.