The Oklahoma City Thunder have taken a hit to their NBA championship odds after star Jalen Williams suffered a severe lower leg injury on Sunday, Oct. 25 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Williams, an All-Star and key contributor to Oklahoma City’s 2025 championship, was taken off the court on a stretcher late in the Thunder’s 108-101 victory. The team has not yet announced a diagnosis.
The Thunder entered the season as the favorite to win the NBA title in the betting markets, but the injury changes the pathway for Oklahoma City moving forward.
As of 1:17 p.m. ET, Oct. 26, the Thunder’s title odds lengthened to +309 from +238 on Oct. 24, per BetFinder’s consensus. That shift dropped Oklahoma City behind the San Antonio Spurs, who became the new
championship favorite at +296.
In implied probability – the likelihood of winning suggested by betting odds – Oklahoma City fell 5.1 percentage points from 29.6% to 24.5%. That’s the largest peak-to-trough decline of any NBA team in BetFinder data dating to July 7.
The Miami Heat have experienced the next-largest drop, falling 3.4 percentage points from their July 22 peak to their Oct. 25 low. San Antonio also fell 3.4 points between its July 8 peak and Oct. 25 low.
No other team has seen a peak-to-trough decline exceeding two percentage points.
Oklahoma City’s change came over just two days. By comparison, Miami’s decline stretched from late July into October, while San Antonio’s peak and subsequent low followed a similar trend. The timing makes the Thunder’s slide especially abrupt.
Despite the injury to Williams, Oklahoma City still has a stacked roster, led by two-time and defending MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, who ranked second in last season’s defensive player of the year honors.
And with that in mind, bettors still give the Thunder a nearly one-in-four shot at the title, per implied probability.
The third-ranked team in championship odds is the LeBron James-led Philadelphia 76ers at +925. No other team has odds shorter than +1000, while the defending champions New York Knicks sit right at that line.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Thunder's NBA championship odds drop after Jalen Williams injury
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