It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Of the eight Game 1s that took place over the weekend, only one road team won and it was a big upset. The Orlando Magic knocked off the Detroit Pistons, the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Detroit is still favored to advance, but it\u2019s tight.<\/p>\n
Monday features three games with the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets looking to take 2-0 series leads.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eastern Conference playoffsNo. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 8 Orlando Magic<\/p>\n
Magic lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 7 p.m. ET, Wednesday<\/p>\n
Series odds:\u00a0Pistons -190, Magic +160<\/p>\n
If there were already questions about the Pistons as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, they weren\u2019t answered in Sunday\u2019s series opener against Orlando. The Magic were the only road team to win in the eight Game 1s.<\/p>\n
Losing at home is one thing, but Detroit never led in Game 1, which is about as alarming as a playoff opener can be.<\/p>\n
Orlando had all five starters score at least 16 points. Detroit only had two players reach double figures in scoring. Cade Cunningham did his thing with 39 points, but didn\u2019t get enough help.<\/p>\n
Detroit is still favored to advance, but it\u2019s closer to a coin flip.<\/p>\n
No. 2 Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n
Celtics lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday<\/p>\n
Series odds: Celtics -1600, 76ers +900<\/p>\n
Boston looked the part of Eastern Conference favorite in Sunday\u2019s Game 1 victory against Philadelphia. The Celtics got 26 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Jayson Tatum. Tatum added 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and Boston won so big that Tatum didn\u2019t have to stress his minute total as he works his way back to full strength after his Achilles injury.<\/p>\n
The Celtics won by 32, and Philly will be searching for answers. With Joel Embiid out, the 76ers will need Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe to shoot better than a combined 1-for-9 from 3-point range. Philadelphia was an ugly 4-for-23 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n
This all adds up to why Boston is favored by a whopping 14.5 points in Game 2.<\/p>\n
No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 6 Atlanta Hawks<\/p>\n
Knicks lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 8 p.m. ET, Monday<\/p>\n
Series odds:\u00a0Knicks -425, Hawks +330<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
New York is favored by 5.5 points in Game 2.<\/p>\n
No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Toronto Raptors<\/p>\n
Cavaliers lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 7 p.m. ET, Monday<\/p>\n
Series odds: Cavaliers -800, Raptors +550<\/p>\n
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\u2019s presence and performance mean Mitchell doesn\u2019t have to do it all for Cleveland.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Toronto didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Western Conference playoffsNo. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 Phoenix Suns<\/p>\n
Thunder lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 9:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday<\/p>\n
Series odds:\u00a0Thunder -20000, Suns +3000<\/p>\n
It was business as usual for the Thunder in Game 1 on Sunday. Oklahoma City won 119-84 in a game that never appeared in doubt.<\/p>\n
The Thunder raced out to a 15-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Phoenix never got near single digits the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
OKC is already in virtual-lock territory to win this series. The -20000 odds imply a 99.5 percent chance that the Thunder advance.<\/p>\n
No. 2 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 7 Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n
Spurs lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 8 p.m. ET, Tuesday<\/p>\n
Series odds: Spurs -2500, Trail Blazers +1200<\/p>\n
Game 1 felt like a celebration for Spurs fans. Frost Bank Center in San Antonio was decked out with the Spurs\u2019 1990s-era logo and colors, and the fans had bright shirts to match.<\/p>\n
As soon as Victor Wembanyama got drafted, it was assumed this day would come for the Spurs at some point. After winning 62 games in the regular season, we knew the Spurs would be a serious contender, but seeing it on a playoff stage still felt like the Spurs\u2019 official return to championship contention.<\/p>\n
Wembanyama had 35 points in his playoff debut, including going 5-for-6 from 3-point range, which simply does not feel fair.<\/p>\n
The Spurs were already heavily favored to advance, and Sunday night\u2019s 13-point win did nothing to change that.<\/p>\n
No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves<\/p>\n
Nuggets lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 10:30 p.m. ET, Monday<\/p>\n
Series odds:\u00a0Nuggets -600, Timberwolves +450<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Nikola Joki\u0107 had a triple-double, of course, and Jamal Murray dropped 30 points. Murray\u2019s route to 30 points was unorthodox, going 0-for-8 from 3-point range but making all 16 of his free-throw attempts.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 5 Houston Rockets<\/p>\n
Lakers lead series 1-0<\/p>\n
Game 2: 10:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday<\/p>\n
Series odds:\u00a0Rockets -225, Lakers +185<\/p>\n
No Luka Don\u010di\u0107, 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 Don\u010di\u0107 and Reaves to return from injury.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time for the NBA to hit its extra gear in the playoffs. The 16-team field is set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5831,9806,15356,5839,5834,5838,15357,5840,2295,15355,5822,139,141,1239,140,5847,5837,5827,5836,5775,5835],"class_list":{"0":"post-239272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","11":"tag-denver-nuggets","12":"tag-detroit-pistons","13":"tag-houston-rockets","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-new-york-knicks","18":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","19":"tag-orlando","20":"tag-orlando-headlines","21":"tag-orlando-magic","22":"tag-orlando-news","23":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","24":"tag-phoenix-suns","25":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","26":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","27":"tag-sports-betting","28":"tag-toronto-raptors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}