UPDATE: ESPN has reported that it's unlikely Booker makes the trip to New Orleans for Games 3 and 4. The Suns are currently just one-point favorites for Game 3, which is set to tip off on Friday.
Devin Booker went down with an injury to his right hamstring — not the one that kept him out for seven games in early December — and the Phoenix Suns are in a precarious position because of it.
The Suns had been trailing by just three points when Booker was pulled Game 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans. After pulling ahead with over seven minutes remaining with Book on the bench, Phoenix never regained the lead. Its 125-114 loss gives the Pelicans home court advantage heading into Game 3 of their No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed matchup.
Booker's injury was substantial for Game 2 and beyond, and it was consequential to the Suns' overall odds, too.
The Suns had been favorites at most American sportsbooks to win the NBA Championship before Game 2 — including as long as -115 at BetMGM — but their odds have dropped substantially
At FanDuel, Phoenix are now second-best underdogs to make the NBA Finals — substantial ones, at that. They moved from about even money to +125 after its Game 2 loss. Then, after it was announced that Booker may miss Games 3 and 4, their odds fell all the way to +170.
Before the Booker news, they had still been slight favorites over the Warriors, who have seen their odds drop to win the West drop from +400 before Game 1, +160 this morning and +115 on Wednesday afternoon.
Curiously, DraftKings has barely changed their odds. Theoretically, you could arbitrage odds on the Suns to win the West at FD (+170) with Warriors to win the West at DK (+175) if you're confident it'll be one or the other.
DraftKings has barely altered championship odds, too. The Suns are still +275 to win the NBA Championship, the same price they had before the Booker news. Those odds are down from +200, which was the price on Tuesday.
The Warriors (+400) and Bucks (+475) also trail closely behind.
At FanDuel, the Warriors are now championship favorites at +350. The Suns trail behind at +360, while the Bucks (+500) and Heat (+650) are top dogs in the East.
