LeBron James’ injury and an impressive stretch by the Brooklyn Nets without Kevin Durant changed the NBA betting market.
The Nets overtook the Los Angeles Lakers in several sportsbooks and are now the favorite consensus to win the NBA title. Brooklyn have won 15 of their last 17 games and moved up to second place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Philadelphia 76ers. Durant has lost the last 15 games due to a hamstring injury, which should leave him out for a few more games.
James suffered an ankle sprain on Saturday in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks, an injury that could cause him to miss several weeks. The Lakers are already without Anthony Davis, who is out with a calf strain and tendon in his right leg for more than a month and is expected to miss at least another week.
The Lakers lost their second consecutive game on Sunday in Phoenix and dropped to third place in the Western Conference. They are just five games ahead of eighth placed Dallas Mavericks.
“You will see the Lakers as a big underdog on the road and a little underdog at home,” said Jeff Sherman, vice president of risk for the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas. “You take those two guys [James and Davis] out of the team and it will be a fight for a playoff spot. “
Sherman changed the Nets to 2-1 to win the NBA title after James’ injury and brought the Lakers down to 4-1, his biggest chance of the season.
Other sportsbooks were being more cautious about the Lakers’ chances, hoping James and Davis would return to the playoffs. In New Jersey, at the Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill, the Lakers remained the favorites for the title with +260, slightly ahead of the Nets with +280.
“I increased the Lakers’ chances a little and decreased some of the other teams at the Western Conference,” Adam Pullen, assistant director of negotiation at William Hill, told ESPN. “But you can’t get too crazy as [James] you have plenty of time to recover before the playoffs, if you need to. If we find that the injury is much worse, we will have to make some important adjustments. “
Sports betting at DraftKings also kept the Lakers as favorites on Monday morning, but most books had the Nets with the best odds.
With James and 76ers star Joel Embiid out on the pitch due to injuries, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has emerged as the favorite to win the regular season MVP. Jokic is +110 on William Hill, followed by James (+450) and Embiid (+600).
James Harden of the Nets, who had up to 100-1 to win MVP at one point, now has 10-1.