Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

On the night of March 11, MVP candidate LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were the betting favorites to win the NBA’s Western Conference title, and MVP favorite Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks were favored to come out of the East. Things haven’t changed, with the Lakers at +135 to win the West and the Bucks -185 in the East.

Yet, of course, everything has changed since that March night as when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus, the NBA immediately shut down and every other North American sports league followed suit.

While the 2020 NBA postseason will feature the standard eight teams from each conference, the playoffs will be unlike any in history. Every game will be at a neutral site from the ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex in Orlando, thus no home-court advantage for anyone, and it’s simply a fact that teams are going to lose players because they have tested positive for COVID-19 – in addition, some players already voluntarily opted-out of the rest of the season.