NBA’s best odds: Raptors (+724)/76ers (+874) hedge to win the Eastern Conference
Without a doubt my favorite bet on the board. The general rule of thumb: if you can take the field over the favorite, always do it. The only exceptions to this are the 2017 Warriors and Tiger Woods in his prime. The Bucks are great, but they haven’t reached that kind of invincibility yet, and the odds for the field are really favorable in the East.
I chose the Raptors and 76ers because I think they have the personnel best suited to knock off the Bucks in the playoffs, but you could just as easily sub in the Celtics (+700) for one of those teams or even hedge harder with a bet on all 3 teams.
Basically, a bet on two of these three teams (Raptors, Sixers, Celtics) gives you odds somewhere between 7/2 and nearly 9/2. A hard hedge on all three teams still gives you better than 2/1 odds on the low side and just under 3/1 odds on the high side.
The Bucks are great and have been the class of the NBA all year long, but I’d take the field at these odds even in normal times. And now the added wrinkle of being in Orlando after a long layoff takes away their home court advantage and all the momentum they had during the regular season. I’ll take the field without any second thoughts.