{"id":617684,"date":"2026-05-01T17:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T17:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/617684\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T17:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T17:54:09","slug":"2025-26-nba-playoff-odds-back-rockets-to-force-7-philly-boston-slugfest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/617684\/","title":{"rendered":"2025-26 NBA Playoff Odds: Back Rockets to Force 7, Philly-Boston Slugfest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Round 1 of the NBA<\/a> playoffs will wrap up this weekend, as four teams have already advanced to Round 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Knicks embarrassed the Hawks in a Game 6 blowout to move on, while the short-handed Timberwolves pulled off a major upset to eliminate the Nuggets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition, the Thunder and Spurs made quick work of their respective opponents, as we got one step closer to them meeting in what would be a much anticipated Western Conference finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a handful of exciting games on deck this weekend, let\u2019s take a look at a few bets I like.<\/p>\n

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No. 4 Los Angeles<\/a> @ No. 5 Houston<\/a>
Game 6<\/p>\n

The Rockets are looking to make history, and the Lakers are looking to avoid it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit, with only four teams ever even forcing a Game 7. I believe the Rockets will become the fifth team, as their clear advantages in youth and athleticism have finally presented themselves over the last two games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lakers guard Luke Kennard was a major factor early in the series, helping to lead the Lakers to a 3-0 lead. But since then, Kennard has been hunted defensively and quiet offensively, as the Rockets have fought back into this series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With home-court advantage in Game 6, I like the revitalized Rockets to give themselves a chance to make history and force Game 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PICK: Rockets (-3.5) to win by more than 3.5 points<\/p>\n

No. 7 Philadelphia<\/a> @ No. 2 Boston<\/a>
Game 7<\/p>\n

The Celtics were -900 series favorites prior to Game 1. But after taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, the Celtics lost Game 5 as 11-point favorites, then lost Game 6 as 7-point favorites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Celtics now return home and must win a Game 7 to avoid a stunning upset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s hard to see Boston losing a third consecutive game as a big favorite, it\u2019s equally hard to trust it right now, especially laying points. I like under 206.5 here, as Game 7 historically trends to being lower scoring. There are nerves on each side, and defensively, teams usually bring maximum intensity in a winner-take-all game.<\/p>\n

That’s a good recipe for a game that stays Under the total.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PICK: Under 206.5 combined points scored<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Round 1 of the NBA playoffs will wrap up this weekend, as four teams have already advanced to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[2205,2242,15363,5050,1055,2971,355,2113,99],"class_list":["post-617684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-betting","tag-boston-celtics","tag-gambling","tag-houston-rockets","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-national-basketball-association","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}