Blazers’ NBA Championship Odds Set at 28-1 After Waving Goodbye to Thunder

• The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t getting much respect from oddsmakers despite beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in just five games
• Portland went 32-13 SU in 45 outings after New Year’s Day
• The Blazers have struggled against the Denver Nuggets, whom they may face in the second round

The Portland Trail Blazers became the first team from the Western Conference to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday night. Damian Lillard once again emerged as the hero, draining a three-pointer at the buzzer to seal a narrow 118-115 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5, and clinch a 4-1 series victory.

However, the Trail Blazers’ manhandling of the Thunder in the first round has provided them with a limited boost in NBA futures betting, and continue to lag as a lengthy +2800 bet on the NBA championship odds.

2019 NBA Championship Odds

*Odds taken 04/25/19

Trail Blazers Among NBA’s Best Since Overcoming Shaky Start

After opening the campaign on a middling 15-13 start that left the club outside the NBA playoff picture in mid-December, the Trail Blazers found high gear as the calendar turned to 2019, going 32-13 SU in 45 outings after New Year’s Day to close out the regular season with a 53-29 record, and claim the no. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

https://twitter.com/gojetsgo1984/status/1073611418052759554

Despite their torrid second-half pace, the Blazers continued to lag at a distant +10000 on the NBA championship odds as recently as March 11th, climbing marginally to +6200 after closing out the campaign on an impressive 14-3 SU run.

The Trail Blazers had no problem wearing the mantle of underdogs in their matchup with an Oklahoma City squad that struggled with consistency down the stretch.

Portland continued to be overlooked by oddsmakers ahead of their first-round matchup with OKC, opening as a +115 underdog on the NBA playoff series prices. However, the Trail Blazers had no problem wearing the mantle of underdogs in their matchup with an Oklahoma City squad that struggled with consistency down the stretch, opening the series with a pair of decisive wins, and dispatching the Thunder in five games including a pair of victories by double-digit margins.

Blazers Likely to Face Nuggets in Second Round

While the Trail Blazers’ second-round opponent has yet to be decided, they currently look likely to face the Denver Nuggets, who take a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 of their series with San Antonio on Thursday as 2.5-point underdogs.

The Nuggets said all the right things about why they didn’t play their best players last night. But it sure *looked* like they were trying to give Portland an extra win in the hopes the Blazers will pass Houston & send the Rockets to the other side of the West playoff bracket pic.twitter.com/5AQD8SIasF

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 8, 2019

On paper, the Trail Blazers look to be in a tough matchup with the Nuggets. Portland has fallen to SU defeat in six of seven meetings with the revitalized Nuggets.

Swept by OKC during Regular Season, Blazers Dominated in First-Round Matchup

However, it is important to remember that it was the Thunder’s four-game sweep of their regular-season series with Portland that played an important role in their emergence as series favorites in the first round.

ESPN experts' predictions for this Trail Blazers-Thunder series pic.twitter.com/luZbZrT3hX

— Michael Russell (@tdmrussell) April 24, 2019

The Trail Blazers smashed that narrative during the series, shutting down a vaunted Thunder offense that ranked seventh in the NBA this season, holding OKC to under 100 points three times during the series, while twice holding Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook to just 14 points, and limiting Westbrook to just one triple-double.

Lillard Has Been on Fire

The emergence of Lillard this season cannot be understated. Long playing in the relative obscurity of Portland, the 28-year-old played a crucial role in both the team’s late-season charge and first-round win, scoring 28 or more points in eight of the Blazers’ final 17 regular-season outings, a run that started with a 51-point performance against OKC on March 7th.

Damian Lillard (50 PTS) buries the three for the #TissotBuzzerBeater and the @trailblazers advance to the Western Conference Semifinals with the 118-115 Game 5 victory! #ThisIsYourTime #RipCity#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/cVqLJkHLR4

— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2019

Lillard also averaged 33 points during the first-round, capped by a spectacular 50-point outing on Tuesday night that included 30 points from beyond the arc.

Add to that a 4-2 SU record in their past six meetings with the defending champion Golden State Warriors, who have had their hands full with a feisty Los Angeles Clippers squad in their first-round series, and the Trail Blazers look to offer exceptional value on the NBA playoff odds, both as a +1300 bet to win the Western Conference, and a +2800 wager to claim their first NBA title since 1977.