NBA Finals odds: Oklahoma City Thunder ‘overwhelming favourites’ to retain NBA title

• Ladbrokes looks at the NBA Finals winner odds now that the 2025/26 season has begun.

• Oklahoma City Thunder favourites to retain their title

• Nuggets, Cavaliers, Knicks among the frontrunners

The NBA title race is heating up as the 2025/26 season enters its final stretch, and Ladbrokes has the latest NBA Finals winner odds. The Oklahoma City Thunder are 7/5 favourites to win a second straight NBA championship, with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs next in the running at 6/1 each.

The Thunder are still the clear favourite to win the NBA championship at 7/5. Their elite defence and depth continue to separate them from the field. The defending champions became the first team to reach 50 wins, as they continue to try to stave off the San Antonio Spurs for the top seed in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference tightened, allowing the Boston Celtics to close the gap to just 2.5 games at the top behind the Detroit Pistons.

The biggest movers are the Boston Celtics, whose odds have shortened from 11/1 to 6/1 following the return of Jayson Tatum after a season-long absence recovering from the achilles tear last postseason. Boston had already been surging behind Jaylen Brown, and the addition of a fully healthy Tatum immediately re-establishes them as the East’s most dangerous playoff team.

San Antonio continues to command respect, also priced at 6/1. The Spurs have continued their historic surge after an 11-0 February and Victor Wembanyama is playing at an MVP level. Three-time MVP winner Nikola Jokic means the Denver Nuggets remain a steady contender at 9/1, while the Cleveland Cavaliers rounds out the top tier at 12/1.

Further down the board, teams like the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons (both 16/1), Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves (both 33/1) remain intriguing long shot plays. The Los Angeles Lakers, currently 80/1, have drifted as injuries continue to disrupt their season.

Last season's runners-up Indiana Pacers enjoyed a magical playoff run before coming up short in Game 7 of the Finals. There'll always be the question of what could have been if not for Tyrese Haliburton's devastating achilles injury early in that game, and the Pacers are undergoing a rebuild year, currently possessing the league's worst record at 15-53.

At the tail end of the market, seven teams are seen as having equal chances at landing the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, all priced at 1000/1 to win the NBA title.

The hottest team in the Western Conference remains the San Antonio Spurs, who have now gone 15-1 over their last 16 games. Victor Wembanyama continues to dominate both ends of the floor, highlighted by a stunning 25-point comeback win over the Clippers on March 6.

The Oklahoma City Thunder also deserve attention. They sit at 50-15, own the league’s best defence, and have gone undefeated since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned from injury. With SGA back in MVP form, OKC looks increasingly like a team capable of defending its title.

In the East, the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks are improving, trying to break free from the shackles of play-in tournament positioning. Miami is riding a five-game winning streak, while Atlanta has won six straight.

On the colder side, the Detroit Pistons have stumbled recently, losing four straight and watching their once-comfortable lead atop the Eastern Conference shrink. Injuries have also begun impacting several contenders, including the Lakers, who continue to manage LeBron James’ health late in the season.

The Orlando Magic remain on a heater, going 7-3 since the All-Star break, are 4-1 so far in March and lead the NBA with six game-winning shots this season.

Currently sitting third in the West at 40-24, the Timberwolves are being overshadowed by the Thunder and Spurs despite owning significant playoff experience. This core has already reached two consecutive Western Conference Finals, giving them an edge over younger contenders like San Antonio.

Anthony Edwards has also been playing at an elite level, averaging nearly 30 points per game, good for third in the NBA. Against San Antonio this season, Edwards has been nearly unstoppable, scoring 110 total points across three meetings while shooting 58 per cent from the field. Minnesota even took the season series from the Spurs 2-1, with their lone loss coming by just three points.

The Timberwolves could present a compelling value play as a proven postseason team capable of making another deep playoff run.

View the latest basketball odds here.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.