NBA Betting Odds: Lakers No Longer Favored To Reach 2021 Finals, Jazz Lead West

The Los Angeles Lakers are no longer the favorites in the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz have supplanted the defending champions with the best odds to reach the 2021 NBA Finals.

Heading into Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers have +320 odds to win the West at FanDuel Sportsbook. The No. 1 seed Jazz have more than twice those odds to make the Finals at +150. Utah has +400 odds to win the title, while the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are tied with +700 championship odds.

The Brooklyn Nets are the overall NBA favorites with +175 championship odds. Having clinched a spot in the second round, the Milwaukee Bucks have +500 odds to win the NBA Finals.

The Lakers had been the West favorites virtually all season long. That changed Sunday night when Anthony Davis didn’t play in Game 4 against the Phoenix Suns with a groin strain. With the series tied at 2-2, Davis is likely to miss at least Game 5 in the best-of-seven series.

Amid Davis’ health concerns, the Suns have -168 odds to win the first-round series. The Lakers are +136 underdogs to eliminate Phoenix.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is questionable after missing Game 4 with a knee injury.

The roles were reversed heading into Game 4. Los Angeles had a 2-1 series lead, and Davis was dominant in two straight wins. LeBron James had answered most of the questions surrounding the high ankle sprain he suffered in March, while Suns guard Chris Paul was clearly hampered by a shoulder injury he suffered in the series opener.

Paul appeared to be fine with 18 points and nine assists in the Game 4 victory at Staples Center. When Davis was in the locker room, Phoenix appeared to have a strong edge on Los Angeles.

Phoenix finished second in the regular-season standings and nine games ahead of Los Angeles. The Lakers had been fighting for the No. 1 seed before James got hurt and missed one-third of the season.

James was a top MVP candidate for the first three months of the season. The Lakers will need the four-time NBA Finals MVP to put up big numbers if Davis is out or hampered for the rest of the series.

The Suns have +2100 championship odds and +650 odds to win the West.