Bulls and Mavs, Lead Race for First Place Against Value-Packed NBA Championship Futures Odds

After winning the first game of their respective NBA Conference Finals series, the still-surprising Chicago Bulls and veteran-laden Dallas Mavericks are both looking like favorites to reach the 2010-11 NBA Finals, even if only one of the teams is actually favored in its series showdown.

Thanks to my expert pro basketball handicapping analysis, NBA roundball gamblers everywhere will get the insight they’ll need in order to cash in against the value-packed NBA Championship Futures Odds.

The following NBA Championship Futures Odds are the general ballpark figures being offered by the majority of Las Vegas sportsbooks.

Chicago Bulls +165
The Bulls aren’t favored over the highly-publicized Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference Finals but after seeing them annihilate LeBron James, D-Wade and company 103-82 in Game 1, I think they should be. First and foremost, the Heat don’t have a single player on the roster than can guard lightning-quick MVP point guard Derrick Rose. Not only can Chicago’s fleet-footed floor leader get to the rack whenever he wants, but the opportunities it creates for his teammates was clearly visible in Game 1.

Yeah, the Miami Heat still have LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and they certainly are not going down without a fight, but Chicago’s league-leading defense, combined with the fact that they are very deep in the frontcourt, looks like it very well could spell trouble for the Miami Heat.

Miami Heat +160
Miami may have gotten past Boston in the last round, but they’re facing a team whose strengths go directly against their own weaknesses. Miami got a team-high 30 points from Chris Bosh in Game 1, but the fact of the matter is that the Heat are seriously thin at the 4 and 5 positions while Chicago features a more than capable starting tandem of Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah at those positions before turning to the absolutely explosive Taj Gibson and blossoming Omer Asik, two players that have as bright a future as any rookie or sophomore in the league. Miami will need to get some Herculean efforts from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade if they want to win this series, but keep in mind, the Bulls’ vaunted defense held the pair to a combined 33 points on 12-for-27 shooting from the field in Game 1.

Dallas Mavericks +250
The Dallas Mavericks looked fantastic in sweeping the Lakers in the second round and have the look of a focused team that is intent on reaching the NBA Finals and possibly cashing in against the value-packed NBA Championship Futures Odds by winning it all this season.

Dallas laid a convincing 121-112 smackdown on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals matchup on Tuesday night with all-star forward Dirk Nowitzki looking as unstoppable as ever in draining 12 of 15 shots from the field and a league-record 24 consecutive free throws for a game-high 48 points.

Not only is Dallas getting some MVP-quality from Nowitzki this postseason, but they’ve gotten some stunning contributions from surprising backup point guard J.J. Barea. The diminutive reserve has suddenly made a habit of breaking down defenses with his unexpected mad dashes to the basket, making Dallas even more dangerous than they were offensively.

Oklahoma City +600
I love Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the blossoming James Harden, but I don’t think the Thunder have nearly the bench it will take to keep up with the loaded Dallas Mavericks. Let’s see … Harden, Nick Collison, Eric Maynor and Daequan Cook versus Dallas’ Jason Terry, Brendan Haywood, Peja Stojakovic and J.J. Barea? Yeah, NBA fanatics, it’s not even close with these two teams’ reserves! Kevin Durant will win an NBA title at some point in what looks to be a sure-fire Hall of Fame career at this point, but he still needs a bit more help, particularly off the bench, in order to get it done.

Overall Analysis: If you got the idea that I was leaning toward a Chicago-Dallas NBA Finals matchup NBA gamblers, then you’re absolutely right!

While I think it’s still a bit premature to count out the Miami heat at this point, I just don’t see the Heat being able to overcome their frontcourt deficiencies against a Bulls team that is a much better rebounding ballclub than they are. Chicago’s defensive excellence also means that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade won’t get nearly as many clean drives to the basket as they did against the ‘step-slow’ Celtics in the last round.

In addition to Chicago winning the Eastern Conference, I also like the Dallas Mavericks to put Oklahoma City away in the Western Conference. The Mavs are firing on all cylinders and have a boatload of veteran talent that is very focused on the task at hand.

As far as the NBA Finals are concerned, I’m also going to urge hardwood gamblers to back the Dallas Mavericks to beat derrick Rose and the Bulls to win it all behind their own MVP-caliber superstar.

While the Bulls won’t give up any free baskets, they also won’t have an answer for Nowitzki and the plethora of extremely capable offensive players the Mavs have on their roster. Jason Kidd will do as good a job on Rose as any opposing point guard while J.J. Barea’s play has given the Mavs a huge boost recently.

Basically, outside of the starting point guard position where not many players can compare to Derrick Rose these days, the Dallas Mavericks are better at every position on the floor, which is why they’ll be hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy – and cashing in against the bankroll-boosting NBA Championship Futures Odds.