Merry Christmas, all.
Lots of feedback on yesterday’s inaugural preseason power rankings, with positive vibes coming out of Chicago (No. 1) and Memphis (No. 4), vitriol spewing from Jersey (No. 30).
Of course, one man’s opinion is just an opinion.
But there are others who take the relative strengths and weaknesses of the 30 NBA teams more seriously, because they have money riding on it. Many of those folks are offshore, spending today’s holiday on the beaches of the tiny islands where their computer servers are located.
Those folks run gambling Websites, and they have posted odds on each team’s chances to win the NBA title. We won’t play favorites here and reveal where these particular odds came from, but they provide a more objective perspective than the subjective ones that come from writers such as myself and my friend Marc Stein, whose power rankings have been a fixture on ESPN.com for a decade.
So here are the odds on each team to win the title:
Miami Heat 20/7 Oklahoma City Thunder 15/2 Chicago Bulls 8/1 Los Angeles Lakers 10/1 Dallas Mavericks 14/1 Los Angeles Clippers 15/1 New York Knicks 19/1 Boston Celtics 23/1 Memphis Grizzlies 23/1 San Antonio Spurs 33/1 Orlando Magic 36/1 Portland Trail Blazers 43/1 Denver Nuggets 46/1 Atlanta Hawks 87/1 New Jersey Nets 92/1 Indiana Pacers 103/1 Houston Rockets 117/1 Golden State Warriors 124/1 Milwaukee Bucks 216/1 Philadelphia 76ers 216/1 Phoenix Suns 247/1 Utah Jazz 247/1 Minnesota T-Wolves 270/1 Washington Wizards 309/1 Detroit Pistons 323/1 Charlotte Bobcats 323/1 New Orleans Hornets 323/1 Sacramento Kings 370/1 Toronto Raptors 432/1 Cleveland Cavaliers 493/1
Cried tears of catharsis is timid smile tears are brave declaration