The NBA Cup Semifinals are set, as the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets won on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals to punch their tickets to Las Vegas.
NBA fans have to wait until Saturday for the semifinals to kick off, where the Hawks take on the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder face Houston.
Oddsmakers have set the opening odds for those matchups, and the Thunder are five-point favorites against Houston while the Bucks are 3.5-point favorites against Atlanta. These teams have actually played each other already this season, with Houston beating OKC by three and Atlanta knocking off Milwaukee by 15.
Does that alter how oddsmakers view the futures market for the NBA Cup? Here's a look at the latest odds.
Latest Odds to Win NBA Cup in 2024-25 Season
Oklahoma City Thunder: +125Milwaukee Bucks: +230Houston Rockets: +400Atlanta Hawks: +600Thunder Favored to Win NBA Cup
As expected, the 19-5 Thunder are the favorites to win the NBA Cup, and one could argue that Houston (No. 2 in the West) is the toughest team left in the bracket.
I actually think there is some value in betting on both of the teams out West, as they've both been superior squads to the East teams remaining and rank No. 1 (OKC) and No. 2 (Houston) in the NBA in defensive rating.
These odds very clearly reflect who oddsmakers believe will advance out of the semis, and the Thunder would likely be favored against the Bucks or Hawks in the NBA Cup Final — if they advance.