<\/p>\n
The Bucks are the favorites<\/a> to win the NBA Finals this season, a label that could be more a curse than a blessing.<\/p>\n Milwaukee looks to become the first consensus favorite entering the first round to win the NBA Finals since Golden State five years ago<\/a>. That kickstarted an era of parity in the NBA we’re still seeing. From 2015-19, three teams\u2014Golden State, Cleveland and Toronto\u2014played for an NBA title. From 2020-22, six teams\u2014the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Golden State and Boston\u2014reached the NBA Finals, and none were the favorite entering the playoffs.<\/p>\n The 2020 bubble playoffs didn’t feature a clear-cut favorite<\/a>. While some sportsbooks accurately gave that designation to the eventual-champion Lakers, depending on who was asked, the Bucks or Clippers could also have been considered the favorites<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2021, the Bucks won their first NBA title since 1971 when they defeated the Suns in six games. Milwaukee entered its championship run<\/a> with the six-best odds of winning the title at +800. The Nets entered that postseason as the favorite at +250 before losing in the conference semifinals.<\/p>\n
That was the Warriors’ third NBA title with the core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. They entered the next postseason in 2019 with the expectation of being a threepeat champion<\/a>. Instead, they lost in six games to the Toronto Raptors, who entered the playoffs that season at +1400 to win the title.<\/p>\n