Dallas Mavs Have Top 10 Championship Betting Odds; Luka Doncic 2nd for MVP
As the Dallas Mavericks continue to win games at a high clip – they've now won seven in a row and 11 of their last 12 – they continue to be taken more seriously as a true title contender.
According to BetOnline, the Mavs have the seventh-highest odds to win the NBA championship this season. The full top 10 are as follows: Boston Celtics (+190), Denver Nuggets (+310), Los Angeles Clippers (+700), Milwaukee Bucks (+750), Oklahoma City Thunder (+1400), Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns (+2500), and Dallas (+2800).
Given that the Mavs have the fourth-best offensive rating (119.5), the fourth-best defensive rating (107.1) and the second-best net rating (12.4) over their last 12 games, one could argue +2800 odds might be a little low. Dallas has yet to lose a game when Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford are all starting together.
Doncic, who has made a strong push for MVP in the final stretch of the season, currently has the second-best odds to win the award for the first time in his career. The top three candidates for MVP, according to BetOnline, are as follows: Nikola Jokic (-750), Luka Doncic (+425) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+2800).
With eight games remaining, the Mavs currently occupy the No. 5 seed in the West, meaning that if the playoffs started today, they'd face the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round for the third time in the last five years. This is the best roster Doncic has had during his six years in Dallas, and he's known as being a playoff riser, so the sky could be the limit for this year's Mavs.