The NBA Playoffs are set. Well, almost.
Before the 2023 postseason can officially begin, the NBA play-in games have to be settled.
Starting Tuesday night, the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (43-39) will face the No. 8-seed Minnesota Timberwolves (42-40) in the first of two Western Conference play-ins. The second play-in game will be Wednesday between the No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans (42-20) and the 10th-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (40-42).
The winner of the Lakers-T-Wolves game will clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference and vault into the playoffs. The winner of the Pelicans-Thunder game will face the loser of LA-Minnesota on Friday to determine the eighth-and-final seed from the West.
In the Eastern Conference, the seventh-seeded Miami Heat (44-38) will play the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks (41-41) on Tuesday for the seventh playoff spot. Then on Wednesday, the No. 9 Toronto Raptors (41-41) and No. 10 Chicago Bulls (40-42) will tip off, with the winner facing the loser of the Heat-Hawks game Friday for the final Eastern Conference playoff position.
Make sense? Good.
Currently, the Lakers are 7-point favorites over the T-Wolves, while the Pelicans are 5.5-point favorites over the Thunder, according to FanDuel.
The Heat are favored by 5 over the Hawks, as are the Raptors over the Bulls in the East. Also, according to FanDuel, the Hawks are -260 to make the postseason, while the Bulls are +570.
FrontPageBets takes a look at the odds for each playoff team to win the conference championship and make it to the NBA Finals.
(All odds courtesy of FanDuel and are subject to change)
Western Conference championship odds
Phoenix Suns +200
Denver Nuggets +350
Memphis Grizzlies +700
Los Angeles Lakers +1000
Los Angeles Clippers +1500
Sacramento Kings +1800
Minnesota Timberwolves +10000
New Orleans Pelicans +25000
Oklahoma City Thunder +25000
Eastern Conference championship odds
Milwaukee Bucks +110
Boston Celtics +165
Philadelphia 76ers +500
Cleveland Cavaliers +1500
New York Knicks +4200
Miami Heat +5500
Toronto Raptors +11000
Atlanta Hawks +12000
Brooklyn Nets +18000
Chicago Bulls +25000
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