Who Are the Early Favorites in the 2025 NBA Finals Odds?

I remember the first time I walked into Madison Square Garden during playoff season—the air crackled with something electric, something that felt like destiny being written in real-time. That same electric feeling hit me last week when I stumbled upon the early betting odds for the 2025 NBA Finals while scrolling through my phone at 2 AM, unable to sleep after my third consecutive hour playing this ridiculously addictive mobile game. You know the type—where rewards are earned each time you level up, which would turn your victim into an overpowered super lab rat in time, except the missions do well to advance in difficulty alongside you, with endgame content and weekly limited-time missions that serve as out-of-reach rewards for many hours and eventually become the long-tailed excuse to return to the game regularly. It struck me how similar that gaming grind feels to the NBA’s own relentless marathon toward the championship. Just like in my game, where I’m chasing those elusive limited-time missions, NBA teams are navigating their own version of endgame content—playoff pushes, injury comebacks, and the ever-present shadow of superteams forming in the offseason. And right there, blinking on my screen, was the question that’s been buzzing in basketball circles lately: who are the early favorites in the 2025 NBA Finals odds?

Let’s be real—speculating this far out is part madness, part intuition, and entirely irresistible. The Denver Nuggets, fresh off their 2023 championship high, are sitting pretty with 6-to-1 odds according to most sportsbooks I’ve checked. Nikola Jokic is basically that overpowered super lab rat I mentioned earlier—a player who levels up so consistently that you half-expect him to unlock a new skill mid-game. But here’s where my personal bias kicks in: I’ve never fully trusted teams that rely too heavily on one superstar, no matter how transcendent. It’s like those gaming missions where you’re given an unbeatable character early on—it feels amazing at first, but then the difficulty spikes and you realize you haven’t built a balanced team around them. The Boston Celtics, at 7-to-1, feel more like a well-rounded roster built for the long haul. I’ve watched them evolve over the past two seasons, and their depth reminds me of those gaming squads where every member has a specialized role—no single player carries the load, but together they create something formidable. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that their playoff performances have sometimes mirrored those frustrating limited-time missions—close but never quite grabbing the grand prize.

Then there’s the Phoenix Suns, hovering around 8-to-1, and honestly, they’re the team I’m most emotionally invested in this coming season. I still have vivid memories of their 2021 finals run, how it felt like they’d cracked the code only to stumble at the final hurdle. Devin Booker is that player who’s been grinding through level after level, accumulating rewards and experience, and you just know he’s due for a breakout. But much like in gaming, where endgame content separates the casual players from the dedicated, the Suns need to prove they can handle the pressure when it matters most. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been stuck on a gaming boss fight for weeks—the Suns’ playoff exits have felt eerily similar. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks at 9-to-1 present the most fascinating case study. Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the most physically dominant player since Shaq, but their surprising first-round exit last season showed that even the most overpowered characters need the right supporting cast. It’s that classic gaming dilemma—do you focus all your resources on maxing out one superstar, or do you spread the love to create a more versatile team?

What fascinates me about these early odds isn’t just the numbers—it’s the stories they hint at, the narratives that will unfold over the coming months. The Golden State Warriors at 10-to-1 feel like that gaming legend everyone remembers fondly but wonders if they still have one more championship run in them. Steph Curry, at 36, is defying typical player aging curves much like those gaming veterans who somehow still dominate the leaderboards years after everyone wrote them off. And then there are the dark horses—the Memphis Grizzlies at 12-to-1, the Dallas Mavericks at 14-to-1—teams that could either surprise everyone or completely disappoint. I’ve learned from both basketball and gaming that predictions this early are mostly educated guesses. Remember when everyone counted out the Miami Heat last season before they made that incredible conference finals run? That was the gaming equivalent of beating a supposedly impossible mission with a severely under-leveled character—the kind of story that keeps us coming back season after season.

In many ways, following NBA odds mirrors my relationship with that mobile game I can’t quit. The early favorites represent those shiny, out-of-reach rewards that motivate you to keep playing, while the underdogs are the surprise victories that feel the most satisfying. As I look toward the 2024-2025 season, I’m less interested in who’s favored today and more fascinated by how these odds will shift—which teams will level up, which superstars will unlock new abilities, and which organizations will master that delicate balance between regular season grinding and playoff execution. The beauty of basketball, like gaming, is that the story is never truly written until the final buzzer sounds. And if my gaming experience has taught me anything, it’s that the most rewarding victories often come from the most unexpected places.