It’s time for the NBA to hit its extra gear in the playoffs. The 16-team field is set following the Play-In Tournament, which featured several close games.
The home teams won all four games on the first day of action on Saturday, which makes any upsets less likely. However, the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets are still favored to beat the No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers after dropping Game 1 on the road without Kevin Durant.
Sunday could be more of the same. The four games feature relatively lopsided spreads with three teams favored by a double digits and Detroit favored by a still substantial 8.5 points.
This is a look at the odds for all eight first-round series in the NBA playoffs. It will be updated daily throughout the playoffs, as the odds to win each series will shift with results.
Eastern Conference playoffs
1. Detroit Pistons vs. 8. Orlando Magic
Game 1: 6:30 p.m. ET, Sunday
Series odds: Pistons -500, Magic +380
The Pistons made the jump from 44 wins last season to 60 this season. Cade Cunningham and company got a taste of the playoffs with a 4-2 series loss in the first round at the hands of the New York Knicks. Now come expectations — which are still relatively modest.
The Pistons are only fourth in the odds to win the Eastern Conference despite holding the top seed. Part of Detroit’s outlook is related to concerns about Cunningham’s health. Just as the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft was emerging as an MVP candidate, he missed 12 games late in the regular season because of a collapsed lung.
Cunningham returned for the final three games, but didn’t play 30 minutes in any of them, and his scoring average in those games (11.3) was less than half his season average (23.9). Detroit is heavily favored to win this series, but eyes will be on how sharp Cunningham looks.
2. Boston Celtics vs. 7. Philadelphia 76ers
Game 1: 1 p.m. ET, Sunday
Series odds: Celtics -900, 76ers +600
Boston has emerged as the favorite to win the Eastern Conference, which is a wild change from entering the season tagged with “throwaway year,” while Jayson Tatum recovered from his Achilles injury suffered in last year’s playoffs. The Celtics started the year 5-7, and it appeared Boston would be headed to the lottery, but Jaylen Brown carried the Celtics to a strong regular-season finish, which prompted the return of Tatum.
Boston was 41-21 when Tatum made his season debut on March 6. The Celtics are 13-3 in Tatum’s 16 games. Most of his numbers are down, but Tatum is still averaging 21.8 points, 10 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 32.6 minutes per game. He may not be the Tatum who was an MVP candidate, but he’s still very good, and Brown is playing near an MVP level.
Meanwhile, it’s unknown when Joel Embiid will return from appendicitis. He had surgery on April 9 and hasn’t come back yet. The 76ers advanced out of the Play-In Tournament without him, and Tyrese Maxey is the team’s leading scorer, but Philadelphia still needs Embiid’s huge presence to pull off this upset.
3. New York Knicks vs. 6. Atlanta Hawks
Knicks lead series 1-0
Game 2: 8 p.m. ET, Monday
Series odds: Knicks -425, Hawks +330
The Knicks held serve comfortably in Game 1 against the Hawks. Jalen Brunson had 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 in a 113-102 win.
The odds have this series as one of the tightest in the first round, but the Hawks never led in the second half and the Knicks led by as much as 19 in the fourth quarter. Atlanta got 49 combined points from CJ McCollum and Jalen Johnson, but the Knicks had a massive edge on the free throw line. The Knicks made more than twice as many free throws (25 to 12).
New York is favored by 5.5 points in Game 2.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 5. Toronto Raptors
Cavaliers lead series 1-0
Game 2: 7 p.m. ET, Monday
Series odds: Cavaliers -800, Raptors +550
James Harden had 22 points and 10 assists in his first playoff game with Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell still led the Cavs with 32 points in a 126-113 win in Game 1, but Harden’s presence and performance means Mitchell doesn’t have to do it all for Cleveland.
Cleveland led by as much as 24 in Game 1 and is an overwhelming favorite to advance after successfully defending home court in Game 1.
Toronto didn’t show much to give any confidence that the Raptors could trouble Cleveland in this series. The most likely series outcome on DraftKings is currently the Cavs to win the series in five games (+215), followed by a four-game sweep at +270.
Western Conference playoffs
1. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. 8. Phoenix Suns
Game 1: 3:30 p.m. ET, Sunday
Series odds: Thunder -3000, Suns +1300
The defending champion Thunder once again had the best record in the regular season (64-18), and the first round is not expected to be a stumbling block. The Thunder have swept the first round in the last two playoffs, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the same happen this year.
Oklahoma City enters the playoffs as the favorite to win the NBA title, although the rise of the Spurs and Tatum’s return from injury for Boston has made the contending field stronger than it appeared months ago. Still, OKC is even money to win it all again on FanDuel and is near even money on DraftKings (+110) and BetMGM (+120).
2. San Antonio Spurs vs. 7. Portland Trail Blazers
Game 1: 9 p.m. ET, Sunday
Series odds: Spurs -2000, Trail Blazers +1000
The Spurs are in the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and haven’t won a playoff series since 2017. That’s when Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard were still suiting up for the Spurs. There have been some lean years in between, but Victor Wembanyama has ushered in what could be another memorable era in San Antonio. The Spurs are a huge favorite in this series and are second in the betting odds to win the NBA title.
Portland is also ending a playoff drought. The Trail Blazers haven’t made the postseason in five years, and last won a playoff series in 2019, when Damian Lillard went full Dame Time and took Portland to the conference finals.
This one isn’t expected to go long, with the over/under for total games at 5.5, and the under is well-favored at -235 on DraftKings.
3. Denver Nuggets vs. 6. Minnesota Timberwolves
Nuggets lead series 1-0
Game 2: 10:30 p.m. ET, Monday
Series odds: Nuggets -600, Timberwolves +450
Minnesota led Game 1 by 10 points after a quarter, but Denver tied the game by halftime and used a 14-0 run to pull away in the third quarter. The Nuggets won 116-105 to take the series lead and become an even more overwhelming favorite to advance.
Nikola Jokić had a triple-double, of course, and Jamal Murray dropped 30 points. Murray’s route to 30 points was unorthodox, going 0-for-8 from 3-point range but making all 16 of his free throw attempts.
Anthony Edwards also had a tough shooting night (7-for-19). If Minnesota is to pull off the upset in this series, it will need more from the star guard.
4. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 5. Houston Rockets
Lakers lead series 1-0
Game 2: 10:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday
Series odds: Rockets -225, Lakers +185
No Luka Dončić, no Austin Reaves, no problem for the Lakers in Game 1. Luke Kennard stepped up with 27 points in a 107-98 win, which buys the Lakers a little more time for Luka and Reaves to return from injury.
Granted, Houston was without Kevin Durant so both teams are hoping to get back to full strength as soon as possible. Durant took warmups in Game 1 and is day-to-day so he could return soon.
Despite the Lakers picking up the win in the series opener, Houston is still favored to win the series. That could flip if the Lakers go up 2-0, but Houston is favored to win on the road and even the series.
