Nets 2022-23 NBA championship odds: Brooklyn back among title favorites with 10-game winning streak

The Brooklyn Nets looked like they might implode earlier this season when they got off to a 2-6 start. Stars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons were clearly not in sync, and head coach Steve Nash was fired. Nash was supposedly to be replaced by suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka, but there was so much negative PR feedback that the team simply promoted interim coach Jacque Vaughn to the full-time gig. It worked, as everything is roses with the franchise on a 10-game winning streak and back among the NBA title favorites at BetMGM.

It's not like the Nets (23-12) are beating up on bad teams during this run, which has vaulted them into second place in the Eastern Conference. The've scored tough road victories at Indiana and Toronto, two wins over Atlanta, and one each over fellow Eastern contenders Milwaukee and Cleveland. The Nets haven't scored fewer than 108 points in a game over the course of the streak. The 10-game run is the longest in the league this year and four shy of the franchise record set in 2003-04 and 2005-06.

"When you follow the game plan and it works, you start believing more and more in what we're doing every day," Durant said following the team's 108-107 comeback win in Atlanta on Wednesday. "I felt like we didn't have identity to start the season, and then we started to figure it out as these last few weeks. Just knowing what we want to do every time we step on the floor keeps our mind at ease and we have a belief in whatever Jacque [Vaughn] tells us."

The team is 21-7 under Vaughn. Simmons still can't shoot but is contributing as a passer, rebounder and defender, Irving hasn't been a distraction (which is rare), and Durant might be playing at the highest level of his Hall of Fame career. He's averaging 29.9 points on 56% shooting along with 6.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists while playing stellar defense. Durant is now +800 to win a second MVP Award.

Before this streak, Brooklyn was +1600 to win the NBA title. It is now +800, behind only Boston (+350) and Milwaukee (+500).

The Nets are next in action Saturday in Charlotte and should win that game. They have won six straight on the road, tied for the longest such streak of any team this season and two shy of the team record. Brooklyn likely gets to 13 consecutive wins before a possible NBA Finals preview at the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan. 6. 

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