As you might expect, some of the best players in the league are battling to win not only an NBA title, but a Finals MVP trophy as well. Check out some of the top odds below.
Jayson Tatum: +145
Jaylen Brown: +150
Luka Doncic: +600
Jrue Holiday: +750
Kristaps Porzingis: +4000
Derrick White: +5000
Kyrie Irving: +10000
At this point in his career and with the season he’s had, Jayson Tatum might get some extra love from the voters in the MVP race due to a more playmaking, defensive, and leadership role he’s taken on in this finals run compared to the 2022 loss to Golden State when Marcus Smart was the leader and main defender.
Through two games, JT is averaging 17 PPG. While this number is due to rise as the series moves to Dallas, we wouldn’t expect the Boston wing to average more than 25 PPG on the series.
This would mark just the third time since 2010 that the Finals MVP - if he were to win the award - would average less than 25 PPG. Kawhi and Iggy did it in back-to-back years in 2014-15 when they were the designated LeBron stoppers.
While Tatum isn’t our best bet to win the award, a massive Game 3 in which he scores 30+ points could catapult his odds to around even and you won’t get better odds from there-on-out.
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Jaylen won the ECF MVP award in a tight race with Jayson Tatum. He’s continued his massive impact into this series with an outstanding Game 1 and sub-par Game 2 where he had 6 turnovers.
Regardless, JB has played aggressively on both sides of the ball and at this pace, would average the most stocks of any Finals MVP since LeBron in 2016 (4.5). While Tatum is the more consistent player for the C’s, JB has averaged 24.5 PPG on the road during this playoff run compared to Tatum’s 6.3 APG on the road.
If Brown can get his shooting on track early in Game 3, he could end up as the leading scorer for Boston this series which should get plenty of MVP nods.
Since The Logo won the award in 1969, no player from the losing team has won Finals MVP. While Dallas is by no means out of the series just yet, Luka will have to have a 40-point game tomorrow night in order to get this series back to - being a contested series.
In his first NBA Finals run, Doncic has done the impossible getting here. Beating a Clippers team loaded with offensive weapons, the best team in the West that doubled him every chance they had, and a Wolves team with the best defense in the league until Luka tore them apart.
Although Boston has looked better than Dallas in each of the games this series, Luka dropped 32 and 30 in each game while posing a threat from beyond the arc with 8 threes made.
Boston will get rattled at points away from home which could lead to Luka having his massive game of the series and securing a Dallas win. If you are a Dallas believer, you can’t get much better odds than +600 unless the Mavs go down 3-0.
We said it before this series. One of Derrick White or Jrue Holiday was the best bet to win MVP. Jrue Holiday has not only been the most important Celtic through two games - he’s hands-down been the best Celtic through two games.
Similar to Leonard in ‘14 and Iguodala in ‘15, Holiday might not be considered the most talented player on the roster, but his hustle plays, scoring ability, and timely decision-making should give the voters all the reason to make him the Finals MVP if the series ended today.
Other than Kawhi and Iggy, each Finals MVP since 2010 has averaged at least 11 APG+RPG throughout the series. Jrue not only checks this mark, but also checks a box that could be his alone. Through two games he has a total of ZERO turnovers, a perfect FT%, and a 65% FG rate.
These numbers are some of the most efficient we’ve seen from a point guard in the finals in recent memory. If Jrue continues to make an impact on both ends and plays at least 80% as good as he did in the Boston games, this award should be his.
In a series full of star power, the quiet assassin Holiday is standing out and at +750 odds, it’s crucial to jump on this bet before it’s too late.