Warriors Championship Odds: Golden State Still The Clear Favorites To Win 2019 NBA Finals?

The Golden State Warriors have battled a bit more adversity in the early stage of the 2018-19 NBA season than usual, but Las Vegas still believes in them to take home another title. The Warriors are favorites to win the NBA Finals again, according to Vegas Insider.

Oddsmakers give the Warriors 5/9 odds to win the title, clear favorites over the second-place Toronto Raptors, who have 15/2 odds to bring Canada its first NBA championship. At 17-9, the Warriors would only be the 4th seed in the Western Conference if the playoffs started today.

However, NBA teams play 82 games, not 26. Health has been a major issue for the Warriors, as starters Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have missed significant time this season. Curry recently returned and has averaged 33 points in the three games since; Golden State is 2-1 in those games.

The team was just 5-6 in the games Curry missed. Even gargantuan scoring efforts from Kevin Durant were not enough for the team to win some of those games. Head coach Steve Kerr took some of the blame for their losses, too.

Green, meanwhile, is expected back early next week, when the Warriors have a brief home stand against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Raptors. Finally, Demarcus Cousins, who has not played at all this year, is practicing more and more for the Warriors.