Would you bet on anyone other than Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić to win the NBA Finals MVP?
Two first-team All-NBA members are BetMGM’s favorites to win the award ahead of Game 1 on Thursday. Dončić is +200 while Tatum is -120, which is better than money to win.
Despite Dončić being the consensus best player in the series, Tatum has much better odds than Dončić. Because the Celtics go into the finals as clear favorites. Boston still has a Finals win at -225, while Dallas is +180. The Celtics are 6.5-point favorites at home on Thursday night.
Tatum has averaged 26 points per game on 44% shooting so far in the postseason. If his 3-point shooting percentage rebounds, he may advance to the big finals. After shooting 37.6 percent from deep during the regular season, Tatum shot just 29 percent from behind the arc over 14 postseason games.
Dončić’s field goal percentage also dropped this postseason as he dealt with ongoing injuries and focused on defense. After scoring nearly 34 points per game in the regular season, Dončić is scoring just under 29 points per game this postseason while shooting 43.8% from the field compared to 48.7% in the regular season.
After Dallas lost Game 4 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, Doncic bounced back with a huge performance in Game 5. He finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 63.6% from the field.
Jaylen Brown is a clear candidate for third place behind Tatum and Dončić at +625. Brown is averaging 25 points per game and is shooting over 54% from the field in the playoffs. If you like Boston emerging as a championship favorite, Boston might be a better choice than Tatum.
Kyrie Irving is +1800 to win Finals MVP as he returns to Boston for the first time as a member of the Mavericks. As a member of the Nets, Irving last played against his former team in Boston during the 2022 postseason.
Irving has been amazing for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs. He’s shooting nearly 49 percent and averaging 22.8 points and 5.2 assists per game.
After these four players, the MVP odds are very high. And to find the next Mavericks player, you have to go down the board. Favorites #5-8 are all Celtics players before reaching the three Mavericks at +30000.
