What an interesting time it is for the NBA and the league’s new form of NBA playoff betting. Taking a page from the collegiate ranks, there is now a play-in round to determine the final two seeds of each respective conference. On top of that, the race to the title looks to be as wide open as ever with online sportsbooks ponying up six teams will shorter than 10-1 returns on the futures odds. Feel good stories like the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors would pay off very handsomely if they somehow found a way to pull off an improbable run to the title. NBA bettors haven’t seen anything like this in quite some time! A wide open tournament like this opens up a number of different scenarios that could lead to some lottery ticket cashes if you play your cards right. The following are three teams I’ve invested in prior to the Play-In round tipping off on Tuesday night. Should any of this trifecta ultimately cash, we will have turned a profit which should always be your primary goal come playoff time.
NBA Betting Lines at BookMaker.eu
ODDS TO WIN NBA TITLE
Brooklyn Nets +217
Los Angeles Lakers +470
Los Angeles Clippers +555
Utah Jazz +669
Philadelphia 76ers +685
Milwaukee Bucks +908
Phoenix Suns +1400
Denver Nuggets +2921
Miami Heat +3650
Dallas Mavericks +4016
Portland Trail Blazers +5000
Atlanta Hawks +9000
Golden State Warriors +12000
New York Knicks +12500
Boston Celtics +13500
Washington Wizards +13500
Memphis Grizzlies +32500
Indiana Pacers +52500
Charlotte Hornets +55000
San Antonio Spurs +70000
Favorite to Bet: Los Angeles Lakers +470
I’ve got this sneaking suspicion that the Lakers have been playing possum for the last 3+ months knowing full well the regular season doesn’t mean a thing. They took it so far as to fail at qualifying for an auto bid into the second season. But honestly, a play-in game might be just what the doctor ordered for a team that I still truly believe is better than both the Suns and Clippers who finished ahead of them in the Pacific Division standings. Seriously, disregard the Lakers overall body of work from the regular season. It means absolutely nothing as injury marred the team’s overall output was over the course of the 72 game schedule. LeBron James is still the King and Anthony Davis is one of the best big men the game has ever seen. Even with marching out a skeleton crew a bulk of the season, LA ranks No. 7 on offense and No. 1 on defense from an efficiency standpoint. James and Davis are rested. As long as their injuries don’t come back to bite them, I don’t foresee anyone in the West taking the defending champs down.
Underdog to Bet: Portland Trail Blazers +5000
The Blazers knew what they were doing going all-out to secure the No. 6 seed in the West. In doing so, they get to match up with the Denver Nuggets and I love love love the draw! While the Nuggets took two of the three regular season meetings, the two wins only came by an average of 3.0 points per game. The most recent clash just saw the Blazers skunk the Nuggs 132-116 as 8.5-point home favorites on Sunday night. While Nikola Jokic and company more or less went through the motions, the win was still impressive nonetheless. Denver has been able to excel without Jamal Murray to this point, but it will be interesting to see how the team performs without their most clutch scorer with the game on the line. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum have been playing with their hair on fire, and they’ll no doubt be playing with purpose so as to lead the Blazers deep into the playoffs like they last did back in 2019. Portland’s won 10 of its last 12 games and covered the closing NBA odds in all but three of those contests. Should they take care of the Nuggets, the Lakers best be fully healthy after going to war with the Suns. If not, they can be had and the Blazers have just the type of makeup to take advantage and advance.
Longshot to Bet: Washington Wizards +13500
It takes money to make money; but in this case, it’s likely going to take a miracle to have any shot of cashing this ticket in. Just know exactly what you’re up against if you plan on buying the hype and taking a flier on this lottery ticket. Washington will have to get by the underachieving Boston Celtics in the Play-In Round just to get a seat at the table. If not, it will then have to defeat the winner of the 9/10 matchup. From there, it would either be a first round matchup against the No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets or No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers. There’s a reason Russell Westbrook and his mates offer up an attractive 125-1 return. Regardless, it’s worth a beer money investment at the very least. Russ averaged a triple-double over the course of the regular season, while Bradley Beal has become one of the more lethal scorers in the game. The rest of the cast has also been playing some real confident ball over the last month and a half. Should things get real strange like many expect, I truly think the Wizards have the formula to go on one of the more epic runs the NBA postseason has ever seen. Should that occur, you’ll kick yourself for not grabbing a taste before all the drama tips off.
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