NBA futures and props still list Phoenix and Oklahoma City as contenders to win the NBA title. Neither team is a favorite but they are both in the playoffs and they have the potential to win some games. Basketball futures and props are a little lower on Oklahoma City since they have Kevin Durant.
NBA futures and props put Phoenix at 26-1 to win the NBA title while Oklahoma City is 18-1. The Thunder are a young team with a superstar player in Durant. The Suns have some talent as well with Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash but most people don’t believe they can play enough defense to win the title so they don’t get as much action on the futures board.
The Suns have won 9 of the last 10 in the series against Oklahoma City. The teams meet on Friday night in what should be an excellent game. Even though the Suns have won 9 of the last 10 against the Thunder, they are just 3-6-1 against the spread. The teams have split the two meetings this season as the Suns won 104-102 at Oklahoma City while the Thunder won 117-113 at Phoenix. Both of those games went over the total.
In past seasons the Suns would have been favored against the Thunder even with the games at Oklahoma City. That is not the case anymore. The Suns have the better record than the Thunder but you can see by the odds in basketball futures and props that the Thunder are considered a dangerous team in the Western Conference. Phoenix can score but they simply can’t stop other teams. That recipe almost never works in the playoffs. Teams that win in the NBA during the postseason have to play some kind of defense. Phoenix doesn’t play any.
Oklahoma City is a much better defensive team than Phoenix and they are now getting some scoring this season. Kevin Durant is having an MVP season. He won’t win the award since LeBron gets all the hype but Durant may actually win the scoring title. You can definitely make a case he is a more valuable player to his team. Durant has become a dominant scorer and it won’t be long before he is mentioned in the same sentence as Kobe Byrant and LeBron James as the best player in the league.