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The 2021 NBA Finals will begin on Tuesday, July 6th with Game 1 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Phoenix Suns are back in the Finals for the first time since 1993 and are led by Chris Paul, who is in his first Finals appearance. On the other side, the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t reached the Finals since 1974, and are seeking their second championship overall.
This isn’t going to be your typical NBA Finals MVP race. Usually, we’re used to 1-2 players having a clear edge over the rest of the field. While that may be reflected a bit in the odds on DraftKings Sportsbook entering Game 1, really things can change drastically from game-to-game in this series. The past decade or so it’s been names like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard. Every now and then we get a surprise name like Andre Iguodala.
This season we may see another surprise name. Below we’re going to go over the odds to win Finals MVP and update you on where some of the candidates stand after each game.
Game 4 update: Bucks 109, Suns 103
This series is becoming tough to gauge from a Finals MVP standpoint. So Khris Middleton had 40 points this time for the Bucks, who evened the series 2-2 with a win on Wednesday night. On the other hand, Giannis was dominant on defense and had back-to-back games of 40 points in Games 2 and 3. On the other other hand, Devin Booker dropped 42 points for the Suns in a losing effort, but has he surpassed Chris Paul if the Suns win the series? Perhaps. It’ll be interesting to see what the lines look like in the AM after this game. Giannis likely has the edge for Finals MVP but it’s still a bit up for grabs.
Game 3 update: Bucks 120, Suns 100
The Bucks made a statement with a big win in Game 3 in Milwaukee on Sunday night to get the series to 2-1 in favor of the Suns. Giannis posted another 40-point game, this time going for 41-13-6 on 14-of-23 shooting from the floor an 13-of-17 from the charity stripe. Milwaukee is very much alive in the series with another home game set for Wednesday night. It would appear the Finals MVP race is down to three players: Giannis, CP3 and Booker. If the Suns win, the most likely outcome is CP3 — unless Booker takes over and wins the series for Phoenix.
Game 2 update: Suns 118, Bucks 108
The Suns scored the same amount of points and took a 2-0 lead in the 2021 Finals behind a big game from Devin Booker. The budding star scored a team-high 31 points and hit 7 three-pointers in the victory. He definitely chipped into Chris Paul’s lead for Finals MVP, but CP3 is still very much in the lead for the award. He scored 23 points with 8 assists and 4 boards in another strong performance. Deandre Ayton is likely out of the running after he had a pedestrian 10 points and 11 boards. Mikal Bridges scored 27 points on some hot shooting, so we can maybe throw his name into the ring as a dark horse candidate for Finals MVP.
Game 1 update: Suns 118, Bucks 105
If Game 1 told us anything it’s that this award is Chris Paul’s to lose. He’ll most likely run away with Finals MVP if the Suns win the series, which appears likely after watching Game 1 on Tuesday night. CP3 was masterful from mid-range, scoring a game-high 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor.
Paul was the best player for the Suns but you can’t ignore the performance of Deandre Ayton, who held Giannis to 20 points while also adding a massive 22-19 double-double. Still, there’s no way Ayton or Devin Booker (27 points) are going to take this award from Paul. We’ll get an update on Finals MVP odds in the AM, but expect Paul to be an even heavier favorite after Game 1.
2021 NBA Finals MVP Odds
| Name | Current Odds |
|---|---|
| Name | Current Odds |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | +130 |
| Chris Paul | +175 |
| Devin Booker | +260 |
| Khris Middleton | +3000 |
| Deandre Ayton | +12000 |
| Jrue Holiday | +20000 |
| Jae Crowder | +20000 |
| Mikal Bridges | +25000 |
| Cameron Johnson | +25000 |
| Brook Lopez | +25000 |
| Bobby Portis | +40000 |
| Pat Connaughton | +40000 |
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