NBA Eastern Conference Winner Odds (2025)

The Eastern Conference has been deep recently and this year is no exception. A handful of teams could walk out of the conference and win the NBA Championship. The odds for each team are below, with two clear favorites emerging.

Boston Celtics 

At times, the Celtics felt like they were messing around during the season. They still finished with 61 wins, good enough to finish second in the Eastern Conference. It also helps their case that they are the defending NBA Champions.

The Celtics are deep, talented, and have a championship pedigree. There aren’t many teams that will even threaten them, and they have the best odds of making it out of the Eastern Conference. This is the team to beat right now.

Cleveland Cavaliers 

The Cavaliers claimed the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 64 wins, consistently winning even when the haters thought they would fall off. They struggled a bit down the stretch, losing a few more games than people thought, but still took the top spot.

This will be a pivotal postseason for the Cavs. Players like Donovan Mitchell have become stars but fall off when the playoffs start. If anyone will challenge the Celtics for the Eastern Conference crown, it will be the Cavaliers.

New York Knicks 

The Knicks feel like a true wild card. They finished second in the Atlantic behind the Celtics with 51 wins. With a cast featuring Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby, the Knicks have all the talent needed to make a run.

Facing a young, upstart Detroit Pistons in the first round will be tougher than it seems. There are definitely major challenges ahead, and the Knicks will likely have to go through either the Cavaliers or Celtics to make it back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

Indiana Pacers 

The Pacers are a sleeper for a team that won 50 games in the regular season. That's bound to happen when the top teams in the conference include the Cavaliers, Knicks, and Celtics. But don’t be surprised if the Pacers make another deep run similar to last season, when they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Pascal Siakam may be the league’s most underrated star, doing a bit of everything well. Tyrese Haliburton has taken a major step forward, and the supporting cast is deep. The Pacers aren’t the flashiest team on the list, but they certainly have the kind of roster makeup to go far.

Who Will Come Out of the Eastern Conference?

The first round of the playoffs is under way and the hierarchy feels the same. The Celtics are the favorites but should be wary of the Cavaliers. If the Knicks get lucky and get top-tier performances from their best guys, they could make a deep run and even knock off one of the favorites in the conference.

Ultimately, the battle for the conference could and should come down to the Cavaliers and Celtics. They have been the two best teams in the Eastern Conference for the last couple of seasons, and it would only be fitting to see them battle it out for the right to represent the East in the NBA Finals.