The Golden State Warriors own the best record in basketball at 31-5 straight up and are 16-19-1 against the spread in those 36 games. As the halfway mark in the NBA regular season steadily approaches, the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are still going off as the clear teams to beat this season on the NBA futures.

Golden State is a -130 betting favorite to win the NBA championship this season at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The addition of Kevin Durant in the offseason made what was already one of the top two teams in the NBA even stronger, and so far it has been a good fit in Oakland.

The Warriors lead the NBA in scoring with 117.5 points per game, and with the pressure of the regular season record no longer in focus they've been able to balance minutes and keep everyone healthy thus far.

A surprising challenger to the Warriors has emerged in the Houston Rockets, who have seen their NBA championship odds climb from +5000 at the start of this season to +2800 coming into the new year.

Houston ranks second in the NBA in scoring with 114.6 points per game as James Harden is enjoying an MVP-caliber season under new head coach Mike D'Antoni. Through its first 36 games of the season, no team this year had made its backers more money than Houston at 24-12 ATS.

The usual suspects hoping to impede Golden State's trip to a third straight NBA Finals are the San Antonio Spurs (+850 to win the NBA title) and the Los Angeles Clippers (+1000). In a league full of high-octane offenses, the Spurs are one of the few teams still enjoying success with a shutdown defense, allowing only 97.8 points per game.

Cleveland (+250) has the top record in the Eastern Conference and has a much clearer path to the finals than Golden State does, as LeBron James will be looking to make his seventh straight appearance in the NBA Finals.

The top contenders in the East that will try to play spoiler include the Toronto Raptors (+2800), Boston Celtics (+4000), and Chicago Bulls (+6600).

NBA Championship Odds

(See the complete list at OddsShark)



Golden State Warriors (-130)

Cleveland Cavaliers (+250)

San Antonio Spurs (+850)

Los Angeles Clippers (+1000)

Toronto Raptors (+2800)

Houston Rockets (+2800)

Boston Celtics (+4000)

Chicago Bulls (+6600)