The Boston Celtics were one of the three favorites to win the NBA championship in 2022–23 before the season even began. They continue to be strong favorites to win the title as the NBA regular season has reached the midway point.
The All-Star Weekend was held this past weekend, and the trade deadline has already passed. With that, the NBA’s 82-game regular season has officially passed the halfway point. The Celtics were the first team to reach the milestone of 30 victories in a season, and they now hold the best record in the league with 42 wins and 17 losses.
Together with the Celtics, the Golden State Warriors, the defending champions, and the Los Angeles Clippers were preseason favorites to win this year’s title. As of right now, the Warriors, who have 29 wins and 29 losses, and the Clippers, who have 33 wins and 28 losses, both suffered from significant inconsistencies in the regular season and failed to justify their pre-competition favoritism.
The fact is that the Boston Celtics are taking big steps to have the best campaign of the regular season and few teams so far have been able to stand up to the Massachusetts team. Still, in addition to the Celtics, some teams have also been standing out in the regular season and are placed as some of the main candidates for the title of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics hold the greatest home record in the Eastern Conference and the best road record in the league. FiveThirtyEight, a statistics database, predicts that the Celtics will end the regular season with 59 victories and a 23% probability of winning the title, and top sportsbooks like Betwinner, of which punters can enjoy the Betwinner promo code India to bet on outcome of the NBA season, back up this prediction. Aside from a few weeks in early November, the Celtics remained the overwhelming favorite to win throughout the season.
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are hopeful that they can win a second championship in three years with a recovered Middleton and an overpowering Giannis Antetokounmpo up front. In the preseason, the Bucks weren’t considered the favorites to win the championship, but by the season’s halfway point, they are moving up the standings with the second seed in the East. The Bucks’ chances of winning the title this season are 17%, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Denver Nuggets
If anyone thinks the Nuggets are peaking too soon in the season, they should keep in mind that guard Jamal Murray picked up the slack throughout the first half of the year after missing the previous campaign due to a knee injury. Due to a variety of injuries, the team also played 14 games without forward Michael Porter Jr.
According to the website FiveThirtyEight, the Nuggets have a 15% chance of winning the NBA championship this season since they have the best record in the Western Conference.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies, led by Morant, are once again one of the NBA’s most entertaining teams to watch. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Grizzlies have a 10% probability of winning the championship this year.