Devin Booker’s injury has tipped the scales in Vegas.
Most sportsbooks now have the Golden State Warriors as the favorites to win the NBA title, after Thursday morning’s news that an MRI revealed a Grade 1 hamstring strain for Suns star guard Devin Booker.
That type of strain usually has a recovery timetable of two to three weeks, meaning Booker is overwhelmingly likely to miss the remainder of the first-round series vs. the Pelicans, and possibly the second-round series should Phoenix advance.
The Warriors odds to win the NBA Finals are now listed anywhere from +275 to +350, while the Suns are now listed from +325 to +550.
The bump in odds also coincides with the Brooklyn Nets going down 0-2 to the Boston Celtics. Many books had the Nets and Suns as the title favorites before their series’ started.
Adding to the uncertainty for Phoenix was their shocking loss to the 9th seeded Pelicans on Wednesday, a game that was neck-and-neck before Booker — who dropped 31 in the first half — hurt his hamstring. That series is now split with two games in New Orleans on the horizon.
Booker — who is coming off an MVP caliber regular season for the Suns — has been plagued by hamstring issues for the past two seasons. Booker strained his left hamstring — the current injury is to his right — earlier this season and missed seven games. He played through a hamstring issue during last year’s NBA Finals and also missed four games during the 2020-21 regular season with another injury to his left hamstring.
The Suns were 8-6 in games without Booker this season.