{"id":63142,"date":"2013-06-26T07:54:40","date_gmt":"2013-06-26T14:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=63142"},"modified":"2013-06-26T08:08:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T15:08:00","slug":"gambling-futures-2014-championship-handicapping-picks-26613","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nba\/gambling-futures-2014-championship-handicapping-picks-26613\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 NBA Handicapping Picks: Odds to win 2014 NBA Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA Betting By Chance?<\/h2>\n

Step right up, folks, if you think you have what it takes to take down the Heat this coming season. Lebron James predicted, what, seven titles in Miami before the show closes down? <\/p>\n

Can any NBA team, as presently constituted, gets things together enough next season and have enough gas left in June to deal with the best player in the league and a surrounding cast that looks just good enough?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the NBA landscape more than four months before then start of 2013-14, nine months before the games mean anything and just about a year before The Finals get under way, complete with odds to win the title (provided by bovada):<\/p>\n

CRISTAL CHAMPAGNE DIVISION<\/h3>\n

Miami Heat (2-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two in a row and counting. That long winning streak early in 2013 showed the league that they were serious about having the best record (and home court edge in any deciding playoff game), and it came in handy in both the Eastern Conference finals (Indiana) and championship series (San Antonio). <\/p>\n

CLICK GRAB OUR BEST Expert NBA Picks for 2013 HOOPS GAMBLING season!<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

Dwyane Wade is starting to fade a tad physically and will probably see reduced minutes this coming season (at least in the regular season), and who knows what Ray Allen is thinking? The rest of the machine consists of interchangeable parts surrounding James, any of whom can be replaced due to financial concerns. <\/p>\n

Odds look about right for the Heat, and would be even tighter if we knew that James would be healthy come spring 2014.<\/p>\n

IMPORTED BEER DIVISION<\/h3>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder (11-2)<\/strong>
\n Chicago Bulls (15-2)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bulls appear more the bargain here because of the way they showed they can get after the Heat defensively in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bulls gave Miami a couple of tough grind-it-out battles, but Chicago couldn\u2019t match the Heat\u2019s firepower. <\/p>\n

If Derrick Rose comes back at near 100 percent and everyone else is healthy for the playoffs, the Bulls\u2019 defense could make the Heat squirm.
\nThe Thunder brought in Kendrick Perkins to create a Maginot Line in the front court that could protect the rim at all costs, but it hasn\u2019t worked out. <\/p>\n

OKC is a team built more for the regular season than a playoff battle with the Heat, but you have to get there first, and assuming no major conference-altering deals, they should be able to supplant the Spurs in the West and at least give the Heat a go in The Finals for the second time in three years. [ad-6571516]<\/p>\n

HOUSE WINE DIVISION<\/h3>\n

San Antonio Spurs (17-2)<\/strong>
\n Indiana Pacers (16-1)<\/strong>
\n Houston Rockets (20-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Spurs may have been a few minutes from warming the hearts of anti-Heat fans coast to coast, but it probably was the last gasp of a team that is running out of steam. Manu Ginobili got older every time down court, Tim Duncan doesn\u2019t have the stamina to go 40-plus, and after his Game 6 decision-making, there are even questions raised about Gregg Popovich.<\/p>\n

Indiana is in an interesting position, but does anyone actually see the Pacers getting past the Bulls and Heat in the East, then having enough juice left to go seven strong against whatever the West comes up with in The Finals?<\/p>\n

Me neither.<\/p>\n

If rumors linking Dwight Howard to the Rockets pan out, Houston would be an intriguing team in 2013-14 \u2013 especially if Howard grows a pair, stays healthy and figures out a way to get along with Kevin McHale. Even without Howard, the Rockets appear to be on the rise.<\/p>\n

BOTTLED WATER DIVISION<\/h3>\n

Los Angeles Clippers (18-1)<\/strong>
\n New York Knicks (18-1)<\/strong>
\n Memphis Grizzlies (20-1)<\/strong>
\n Brooklyn Nets (40-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe, if things go right and better clubs are fighting injuries come mid-April, they could be a unicorn \u2013 that rare NBA team that comes out of nowhere and wins it all. But at this point they\u2019re all just a few steps above the rest, 4th- and 5th-graders who can run the playground until the 6th-graders are let out for recess.<\/p>\n

Here’s the odds from Bovada<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Odds to win 2014 NBA Championship<\/h3>\n

Miami Heat 2\/1
\nOklahoma City Thunder 11\/2
\nChicago Bulls 15\/2
\nSan Antonio Spurs 17\/2
\nIndiana Pacers 16\/1
\nLos Angeles Clippers 18\/1
\nNew York Knicks 18\/1
\nHouston Rockets 20\/1
\nMemphis Grizzlies 20\/1
\nLos Angeles Lakers 22\/1
\nDenver Nuggets 25\/1
\nGolden State Warriors 25\/1
\nBoston Celtics 33\/1
\nDallas Mavericks 40\/1
\nBrooklyn Nets 40\/1
\nAtlanta Hawks 50\/1
\nMilwaukee Bucks 75\/1
\nMinnesota Timberwolves 75\/1
\nPhiladelphia 76ers 100\/1
\nPortland Trailblazers 100\/1
\nUtah Jazz 100\/1
\nCleveland Cavaliers 150\/1
\nNew Orleans Pelicans 150\/1
\nSacramento Kings 150\/1
\nToronto Raptors 150\/1
\nWashington Wizards 150\/1
\nDetroit Pistons 300\/1
\nPhoenix Suns 300\/1
\nCharlotte Bobcats 500\/1
\nOrlando Magic 500\/1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBA Betting By Chance? Step right up, folks, if you think you have what it takes to take down the Heat this coming season. Lebron James predicted, what, seven titles in Miami before the show closes down?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":63286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[3938,118,8438,59086,58102,59088,4169,744,6908,1595,3942,59276,749,3925,59277,1291],"class_list":["post-63142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-basketball-odds","tag-basketball-picks","tag-bet-on-hoops","tag-bet-on-nba-futures","tag-bovada-nba-odds","tag-handicapping-nba-basketball","tag-heat","tag-nba-betting","tag-nba-future-odds","tag-nba-gambling","tag-nba-handicapping","tag-nba-nba-futures-handicapping","tag-nba-odds","tag-nba-predictions","tag-odds-to-win-2014-nba-championship","tag-vegas-lines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63142"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63296,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63142\/revisions\/63296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}