Why are the Warriors favored for NBA title?

The Golden State Warriors are very close to reaching the NBA Finals, their fifth for this generation of players and the head coach Steve Kerr. But not only this, the NBA betting trends suggest that the Warriors stand as the favorite to win the Larry O’Brien trophy, regardless of the rivals coming from the East.

All the bookmakers and the majority of the analysts claim that the Dub Nation will beat the rivals from the East. There are various explanations to back up their claims, and we are going to present a couple of the most important ones. 

Home-Court Advantage

The Warriors will have a home-court edge in the finals, regardless of the rival. Up until this point, they haven’t lost at Chase Center during the playoffs. Not only that, they have been quite confident, trashing the Nuggets and Grizzlies and currently leading against the Mavericks. 

Golden State’s crowd has the experience of participating in the finals and knows how to behave in certain moments. It might sound odd to you, but that is the case. These fans witnessed three championship quests and two more trips to the finals, and for sure know how to disturb the rivals. 

As said, they have been undefeated since the start of the postseason and really look flawless at home. That no doubt gives a massive boost to their stocks right now. 

Bloodbath in the East and Injuries

This is maybe the biggest reason why we personally see the Warriors as the favorites. While they have relatively a calm series against the Mavs, without too much intensity, things are quite the opposite in the East. 

The Heat and the Celtics are practically killing each other. Their game is much more physical, with harsh and very tough defenses, which eventually produce lots of injuries. 

Pretty much all of the key players have some sort of health issue. Marcus Smart already missed a few games, Al Horford too, and Jayson Tatum has problems. On the other side, among the Heat, Kyle Lowry only recently came back, Tyler Herro skipped the most recent event, and Jimmy Butler had a mild groin injury. We aren’t mentioning several other players who are in the same position. 

Now compare that with the Warriors’ situation. They are all in perfectly good health and have a chance to finish the series earlier than the rivals, which would give them an additional edge in terms of recovery and health. 

Plus, a very valuable time for scouting the opponents and preparing the tactics. 

Experience and Finals Chemistry

The Warriors have experience in these situations. With all due respect to Boston and the Heat, they don’t have players who were at this stage often. Yes, the Heat reached the finals in the bubble, and they landed Lowry and PJ Tucker, but still, that is not even near the Warriors’ experience.

Things are even more evident with Boston, who did have some trips to the East finals but didn’t feel what it is like to play in the finals. That might be too big of a challenge for them. 

While the Heat has Spoelstra, who already won titles, Ime Udoka used to be an assistant coach in San Antonio’s championship run back in 2014. Yet, that is not even near his current position. 

Golden State’s core (Steph, Klay, Green, Igoudala) and Kerr have patterns they already repeated so many times in the Finals, that they became a routine. The pressure, the hype, the stress, they don’t feel that like potential rivals. Curry already stated recently that the playoffs are, in fact, a period of frequent adjustment.

He and his teammates have been doing that very well. They adjusted to the Mavs’ defense, which was one of the best in the league, destroying it in the opening two events.

The NBA Finals start on Thursday, June 2, which is around the corner. Stay tuned for more NBA news and content.