Are you willing to bet on anyone other than Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić to win NBA Finals MVP?
The two All-NBA First Team members are the clear favorites for the award at BetMGM heading into Game 1 on Thursday. Tatum is better than even the money to win at -120, while Doncic It is at +200.
Although Dončić is the consensus best player in the series, Tatum has significantly better odds than Dončić because the Celtics enter the finals as clear favorites. Boston is still -225 to win the Finals, while Dallas is +180. The Celtics are 6.5-point favorites at home on Thursday night.
Tatum has averaged 26 points per game on 44% shooting during the postseason so far. If his three-point percentage rebounds, he could be in a grand final. Tatum is shooting just 29% from behind the arc in 14 postseason games after shooting 37.6% from deep during the regular season.
Dončić’s field goal percentage has also declined this postseason as he has dealt with some nagging injuries and focused more on defense. After averaging nearly 34 points per game in the regular season, Dončić is scoring just under 29 points per game this postseason and shooting 43.8% from the field compared to 48.7% in the regular season.
After struggling in Dallas’ Game 4 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, Dončić bounced back with a big game in Game 5. He shot 63.6% from the field and scored 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Jaylen Brown is the clear #3 favorite behind Tatum and Dončić at +625. Brown is averaging 25 points per game and shooting over 54% from the field in the playoffs. If he likes Boston to become a favorite, he may be a better bet than Tatum.
Kyrie Irving is +1800 to win Finals MVP as he returns to Boston for the first time as a member of the Mavericks. Irving last played against his former team in Boston during the 2022 postseason as a member of the Nets.
Irving has been phenomenal so far for the Mavericks in the playoffs. He is shooting nearly 49% and is averaging 22.8 points and 5.2 assists per game.
After those four players, the odds of winning the MVP are very high. And you have to go a long way down the board to find the next Mavericks player. The numbers 5-8 favorites are all Celtics players before coming down to three Mavericks at +30000.