Summer League championship odds: Rockets and Cavs lead the pack

Friday is the final day of the Summer League regular season before playoffs begin. The top four teams make the playoffs and the rest are sent to consolation stages, with the semifinals played Sunday and the championship game Monday.

Many teams have finished their four-game regular season, but a few squads in contention for the top four seeds still have one game remaining. Let's look at the Summer League championship odds.

Summer League championship odds

The most important thing is identifying the top four clubs to ensure they have a chance to play in a single-elimination semifinal. The worst possible outcome is betting on a team that doesn't even make the playoffs.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets are both 4-0, guaranteeing their spots, which is why they are the two favorites. The Cavs are the No. 1 seed and the Rockets are the No. 2 seed.

The Utah Jazz are 3-0 with their last game Friday night against the 1-2 Suns. If they win, they're in. The Jazz would have to win by more than 20 points Friday to leapfrog the Rockets as the No. 2 seed and by more than 31 to jump the Cavs.

Once the four playoff teams are established, anyone can win any given game. Figuring out who makes it in is the tricky part.

If multiple teams are 3-1 - four teams are currently 3-1 and eight 2-1 teams play Friday - it goes to a tiebreaker. The team with the greater point differential receives the higher seed. If that's even, the team with the most total points gets the nod.

Of the four 3-1 teams, the Nets have the greatest point differential at plus-10, which means they're likely in.

There is a massive drop in odds after the Nets. The Heat, Pacers, and Lakers are all 2-1 and finish their slates Friday night. They all need to win to have a chance to make the playoff, and they also need the Jazz to lose.

The odds after the Nets are in order of point differential: The Heat have the highest, followed by the Pacers and Lakers, and then the Blazers.

Assuming the Jazz win, the Heat would have to beat the 0-4 Nuggets by a substantial margin to finish with a larger point differential than the Nets and qualify for the playoffs.

It'll get complicated if the Jazz lose, but the four teams most likely playing for a championship are the Cavs, Rockets, Nets, and Jazz, with a chance for the Heat to knock out the Jazz or Nets.

The Cavs entered Summer League +4500 to win despite a plethora of rostered talent. Second-round selections Sharife Cooper and Emoni Bates have emerged as stars in Vegas, leading the Cavs to four wins by a combined 50 points. Second-year forward Isaiah Mobley is contributing solid minutes as well after failing to crack Cleveland's rotation as a rookie.

The Rockets had tremendous value at +2000 before Summer League with a loaded roster featuring front-facing talent and a deep bench. Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason helped the Rockets earn their first two wins but were shut down after dominant performances. Amen Thompson, the Rockets' No. 4 overall pick in June, sprained his ankle in the opener and never returned.

Even without them, the Rockets defeated a contending Thunder team in their third game and then decimated the struggling Warriors. Led by Villanova products Cam Whitmore and Jermaine Samuels Jr., Houston is still a worthy contender, but not close to the same dominant squad it was to start the week.

The Jazz had the eighth-best odds to walk away with hardware when the competition tipped off. However, no one expected Keyonte George would be best player in Summer League. The No. 16 overall pick has led the Jazz to a 3-0 record and was the favorite to win Summer League MVP before he went down with an ankle injury. He will reportedly miss the rest of the tournament.

George only played 10 minutes in the last game, but his teammates shined in his absence. Luka Samanic and Ochai Agbaji put up 14 points apiece in a win over the Nuggets. Not relying on George bodes well for Utah with one game to go Friday night.

Best bet

Before Las Vegas Summer League started, the Rockets were one of my picks to win it at +2000. After going 4-0, I'm still rolling with the Rockets at +300. Sure, they lost their two top contributors, but they've shown their incredible depth in the two games since. Whitmore is a top candidate to win Summer League MVP and will carry this team to two more wins in Vegas.

Pick: Rockets +300

Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on Twitter @soshtry for more basketball betting coverage.