An eighth straight victory on Thursday night saw the Lakers NBA title odds shorten once again, as LA’s heady duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic continue to warm to each other.
LA Lakers NBA Title Odds Shrink Yet Again
You only have to rewind to the festive slate to see just how quickly fortunes can change in basketball.
A Christmas Eve loss against the Pistons condemned the Lakers to its 13th defeat of the season at that stage. Detroit overcame LeBron’s triple-double that night, which was the story of much of LA’s early season games as they leaned heavily on the 40-year-old as their chief points scorer.
When James faltered, so did the Lakers, and quickly pressure was being applied by a demanding fanbase to the front office over the direction of the franchise – after all, this is a team who had won the most championships in NBA history until very recently.
However, such is the lengthy nature of the season that narratives are there to be changed; but no one could have foreseen the upturn by this point in the campaign.
Not only have the Lakers climbed their way up the Western Conference to position themselves just behind NBA sportsbooks‘ championship favorites Oklahoma City Thunder, but they miraculously acquired one of the NBA’s preeminent players to well and truly rubbish any doubts over the front office.
Since Luka Doncic’s arrival – which saw the Lakers offload dead-weight in Anthony Edwards who went the other way – the Lakers have improved 8-2.
Thursday night’s win against the Knicks saw them hit 40-21 for the season, and marked the second ever occasion a duo (James and Doncic) registered consecutive games of at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, combining for 63 on the night.
As the Lakers continue to make considerable strides towards the playoffs, its NBA championship title odds continue to fall – dropping to a new low of +1000.
LUKA & LEBRON LEAD THE LAKERS TO THEIR 8TH STRAIGHT WIN 🙌
🌟 Luka: 32 PTS, 12 AST, 7 REB, 4 STL
🌟 LeBron: 31 PTS, 12 REB, 8 ASTLAL improves to 8-2 with Dončić in the lineup with a trip to Boston coming up on Saturday 🍿 pic.twitter.com/WrCNu8f6eL
— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2025
Resurgent Warriors Also See NBA Championship Odds Tumble
Golden State has won 10 of of its last 11, and has just two defeats since acquiring Jimmy Butler.
The veteran has been an inspired pick-up by the Warriors – who, much like the Lakers front office, were heavily criticised for failing to prepare for a post-dynasty landscape.
Nevertheless, it has clawed back a season that was very much in the mire across the winter slate, climbing from 10th to sixth in the Western Conference.
Steph Curry in particular has shouldered a huge amount of points-scoring responsibility, posting 20 or more in all but one of his last seven appearances.
After hitting a freakish logo buzzer-beater in another 40-point display against the Nets, Shaquille O’Neal has declared Curry deserves a spot in the ‘greatest of all time conversation’.
The Warriors have now tentatively entered the frame for a shot at the NBA title, and are floating at around +18000 across US sportsbooks.
