NBA West Betting Update: Can anyone down the Phoenix Suns?

While the NBA Western Conference isn’t nearly what it once was, there are still some legitimate title contenders. Unlike the Eastern Conference, the West is pretty much all set. The reigning Western Conference champs Phoenix Suns locked down the first seed in the conference about a week ago and own a record of 64-14 with only six more games to go.

The Suns have the best odds to repeat at +115, but there are some other very interesting prices after them. Here’s a look at the current odds to make the 2022 NBA Finals out of the West.

NBA West outright odds

• Phoenix Suns +115
• Golden State Warriors +340
• Memphis Grizzlies +650
• Utah Jazz +900
• Dallas Mavericks +1200

All odds courtesy of Bovada

Phoenix Suns

If there is any team capable of repeating as Western Conference champions it would be the Suns. Head coach Montey William has done a phenomenal job since his arrival in Phoenix. Surely, talent like Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges, and Deandre Ayton help their chances of winning but Williams has established himself as one of the top coaches in the NBA. Since entering the league in 2015 out of Kentucky, Booker has turned into a star. This year specifically, Booker is above his career averages in points per game, three point percentage, and minutes played. Not only has Booker been great this year, but he’s also been available.

Pairing Booker with a true blue point guard like Paul and surrounding pieces like Bridges and Ayton, the Suns have developed into the most efficient offense in the NBA. Now that the West is locked up for the Suns, the rest of the season should be about getting Paul some minutes down the stretch. Paul missed a big chunk of the year and is just now getting back in the flow of things even though it has looked seamless since his return.

If you’re getting the Suns at plus odds to repeat as Western Conference champions, empty the bank account. There is no better team on the board than the Suns.

Golden State Warriors

After a much anticipated return of Klay Thompson and the reunification of the Warriors trio of Thompson, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green, the Warriors have fallen to fourth place in the West as of Thursday. The Warriors’ big trio has seldom been on the floor together as all three have missed time during the second half of the season. Curry injured his foot in March and has been rehabbing for a return this season hopefully and Thompson has been in and out of the lineup with a mix of different issues.

While Curry is slowly but surely working his way back, there is doubt that he will be ready for the playoffs as he has not even begun rehab on the court yet as we inch closer to the playoffs. With just under two weeks left in the regular season for the Warriors, they’re playing some of their worst basketball of the season. The Warriors and Steve Kerr would be the one exception to the rule, but at +340, the odds are not sweet enough yet.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies are the surprise team in this conversation. They backed their way into the playoffs last season finishing as the eighth seed with a 38-34 record, but the pieces were there. Coming into this season, there wasn’t a ton of hype around the Grizzlies but they have exceeded expectations all season long.

While they are a young team, they’re very solid all around. Ja Morant leads the way with crazy acrobatic shots seemingly every night but for as good as Morant is, it’s tough to see the Grizzlies making any real noise in the Western Conference. Not only do they not have very much talent outside of Morant, but they are just too all around too young. The Suns proved this theory wrong last year, but the Suns had a lot more talent. The Grizzlies should be a scary team to face in the coming years, though.

Utah Jazz

Now here’s a team with experience. The Jazz finished in first place a season ago but yet again managed to not make any noise in the playoffs. The tandem of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert seems to work great in the regular season, but when the bright lights turn on in April and May the Jazz seem to fold under the pressure consistently. Not only have the Jazz not had a great year, but they’re in the midst of their worst losing spell of the season. Players like Mitchell and Gobert both have expressed their displeasure with the inconsistencies.

It seems like the Jazz are the 76ers of the Western Conference, we need to see them do it before we lay any real money down on them. Don’t bother taking the Jazz, even at these odds.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have quietly become a very good team and with Luca Doncic leading the way, anything seems possible. Doncic just turned 23 this past February and is not only viewed as a rising star around the league but the star in the league. Doncic is a huge part of why the Mavericks are where they are but it’s tough to see them hanging in games against teams like the Suns and Warriors. The Mavericks might make it a round or two but we wouldn’t recommend betting them to win the West, but who knows, crazier things have happened.

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