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NBA betting: If Suns and Bucks meet in the NBA Finals, Bucks likely to be favored

If you're a Los Angeles Clippers or Atlanta Hawks fan and follow betting odds, you don't have much hope.

With the Clippers' loss in Game 4 and the Hawks loss in Game 3 of the respective conference finals over the weekend, the series odds shifted in a big way. The Hawks are +850 underdogs at BetMGM to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the East. The Clippers are +1200 to knock off the Suns in the West.

BetMGM offers odds on which two teams will meet in the NBA Finals. A Bucks-Suns matchup is -800. That's implied odds of 89 percent.

If that Bucks-Suns championship matchup happens as expected, it seems the Bucks will be favored.

Bucks would likely be favored in NBA Finals

The Phoenix Suns took over as NBA Finals favorites at BetMGM for a brief time last week, but that was mostly because the Bucks' series odds against the Hawks took a hit with a Game 1 loss. Since then, the Bucks have gotten back on track in their series.

The futures odds on the NBA championship have adjusted accordingly. The Bucks are -105 favorites to win it all at BetMGM. The Suns are +110. If you're feeling frisky, the Clippers are +2200 and the Hawks are +3500.

If those odds hold, the Bucks would be about -120 or -115 favorites once the series against the Suns is set even though Phoenix would have home-court advantage. Those odds could change. A key injury on either side would shift the odds. If the Suns or Bucks struggle to close out their series, that could shift the odds as well.

But as it looks now, the Bucks should be slight favorites in a fun NBA Finals matchup.

Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks are on track to meet in the NBA Finals. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Bucks, Suns have some history

The Bucks and Suns share an important moment in NBA history. In 1969, those two teams had a coin flip to determine the first pick of the NBA draft (it was a simpler time). The Bucks won the coin toss and ended up with UCLA center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That worked out pretty well for Milwaukee.

Since Abdul-Jabbar asked for a trade out of Milwaukee, the two franchises share a lot of misery. The Suns have never won an NBA Finals. The Bucks haven't been to the NBA Finals since 1974. For most of the past few decades, the Suns and Bucks weren't dreaming of conference titles. They were just trying to get back to respectability. Then the Bucks hit a grand slam drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Suns made a shrewd trade for Chris Paul and both teams are on the verge of advancing to the NBA Finals.

Fans of both franchises have been burned enough to know neither series is over until it's clinched. But if the favorites advance, it would be a pretty evenly matched NBA Finals.