Miami Heat Currently +220 To Win Third Straight Title
Published on March 18th, 2014 2:45 pm ESTDespite a recent losing streak, the Miami Heat are still the favorites to win the 2014 NBA Championship.
This is a script that seems to play out every year - the Miami Heat suffer through a rough patch in the regular season, and many people start to question whether or not they can win a title.
The Miami Heat have won two NBA titles in a row, and they are still the favorites to win in 2014, despite the recent streak of losses that the team endured. Sure, the competition is going to be very tough (especially from Indiana, if the two teams end up playing), but when you have the best player in the league (LeBron James) and have won the last two titles in a row, you will be the favorites to win until somebody beats you.
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The general consensus is that the only team that has the potential to beat the Miami Heat in the playoffs is the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers are currently 3 1/2 games ahead of Miami in the Eastern Conference. It's no secret that the Pacers desperately want to finish atop the Eastern Conference so that they can enjoy home court advantage over every other team in the East, including Miami. If Indiana can host a playoff series against Miami, the line of thinking goes, they might just be able to dethrone the Heat.
While the West is filled with many good teams, there is a general feeling that there is nobody good enough to defeat the Heat in a seven game series. San Antonio came very close last season, and they have arguably the best coach in the league, but can they defeat the Heat after the extremely disappointing loss that they suffered last season?
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Here are the current odds to win the 2014 NBA Championship. As you can see, the Heat and the Pacers are the current favorites to win:
Miami Heat, +220
Indiana Pacers, +275
Oklahoma City Thunder, +400
San Antonio Spurs, +750
Los Angeles Clippers, +1000
Houston Rockets, +1600
Golden State Warriors, +2000
Portland Trailblazers, +2000
Brooklyn Nets, +3300
Chicago Bulls, +5000
Dallas Mavericks, +6600
Memphis Grizzlies, +6600
Toronto Raptors, +8000
Atlanta Hawks, +10000
New York Knicks, +10000
Phoenix Suns, +10000
Washington Wizards, +10000
Cleveland Cavaliers, +12500
Boston Celtics, +15000
Detroit Pistons, +15000
Denver Nuggets, +20000
Minnesota Timberwolves, +20000
Charlotte Bobcats, +25000
Los Angeles Lakers, +50000
New Orleans Pelicans, +50000
Orlando Magic, +50000
Sacramento Kings, +50000
Milwaukee Bucks, +100000
Philadelphia 76ers, +100000
Utah Jazz, +100000
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Will LeBron James and the Heat make it three in a row before the team likely disbands in the summer, or will some new blood step in and win the title?
