{"id":17775,"date":"2025-05-08T05:06:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T05:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/17775\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T05:06:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T05:06:38","slug":"picks-odds-for-2025-nba-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/17775\/","title":{"rendered":"Picks, odds for 2025 NBA Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

Ranking top Western Conference threats to OKC Thunder in NBA Playoffs<\/p>\n

Here are the five biggest threats to the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference this playoffs.<\/p>\n

The No. 1-seeded OKC Thunder<\/a> will face the No. 8-seeded Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series<\/a> is set for noon CT Sunday in Oklahoma City. OKC (68-14) went 4-0 in the regular season against Memphis (48-34).<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at how the Thunder-Grizzlies first-round matchup<\/a> is projected to play out:<\/p>\n

First-round picks: Nuggets vs Clippers<\/a> | Lakers vs Timberwolves<\/a> | Rockets vs Warriors<\/a> | Cavaliers vs Heat<\/a> | Pacers vs Bucks<\/a> | Knicks vs Pistons<\/a> | Celtics vs Magic<\/a><\/p>\n

NBA AWARDS BALLOTS:\u00a0Most Valuable Player<\/a>,\u00a0Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>,\u00a0Coach of the Year<\/a>,\u00a0All-NBA teams<\/a><\/p>\n

REQUIRED READING: Jalen Williams made big strides for Thunder, but next ones need to come in NBA Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunder vs Grizzlies series prediction, picks<\/p>\n

Justin Martinez: OKC, 4-1<\/p>\n

Memphis has a fast, dynamic offense that’s led by Ja Morant. The Grizzlies rank second in the NBA in points per game (121.7), and they can inflict serious damage if they’re allowed to run and attack the rim. But OKC has the defensive tools to slow Memphis down. The Thunder has numerous point-of-attack defenders such as Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace. And if the Grizzlies get past them, they’ll run into rim protectors such as Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. OKC’s defense will shine, and Gilgeous-Alexander will light up the scoreboard against a Memphis team that won’t have many answers for him. Thunder in five.<\/p>\n

REQUIRED READING: How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has prepared OKC Thunder to take NBA Playoffs by storm<\/a><\/p>\n

BetMGM<\/a>: OKC (-2000) is the favorite to win the first-round playoff series vs Memphis<\/p>\n

OKC opened as a -2000 favorite to beat Memphis in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Series winner: OKC -2000 | Memphis +1000<\/p>\n

More: How OKC Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo became an NBA viral sensation<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunder vs. Grizzlies Game 1 betting odds<\/p>\n

Odds via BetMGM<\/a> as of Saturday, April 19<\/p>\n

Odds: OKC by 12.5Over\/under: 226.5Moneyline: OKC -800 | Memphis +550<\/p>\n

More: Which OKC Thunder picks will convey in 2025 NBA Draft?<\/a><\/p>\n

ESPN<\/a>: OKC Thunder has a 77.5% chance to beat the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a> in Game 1<\/p>\n

ESPN gives OKC a 77.5% chance to win in Game 1 on Sunday.<\/p>\n

More: All-NBA team predictions: Will any OKC Thunder players join Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?<\/a><\/p>\n

OKC Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies playoff schedule<\/p>\n

All times are Central Time (CT)<\/p>\n

Game 1: Memphis at OKC, noon Sunday, April 20 (ABC)Game 2: Memphis at OKC, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 (TNT\/FDSN)Game 3: OKC at Memphis, 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24 (TNT\/FDSN)Game 4: OKC at Memphis, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26 (TNT\/FDSN)Game 5 (If necessary): Memphis at OKC, TBD Monday, April 28 (TBD)Game 6 (If necessary): OKC at Memphis, TBD Thursday, May 1 (TBD)Game 7 (If necessary): Memphis at OKC, TBD Saturday, May 3 (TBD)<\/p>\n

MUSSATTO: Why OKC Thunder will be an outlier one way or another in the NBA Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn\u2019t influence our coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ranking top Western Conference threats to OKC Thunder in NBA Playoffs Here are the five biggest threats to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[59,407,328,837,7,408,618,366,311,57,777,840,56,80,60,836,497,839,267,284,268,623,294,948,619,947,949,834,178,625,832,364,624,496,106,71,842,270,838,183,293,177,4070,54,79,835,70,85,6,11,841,62,67,310,179,58,61,81,269,34,65,622,209,66,83,55,271,64,312,63,82,831,833],"class_list":{"0":"post-17775","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-affiliate","9":"tag-alex","10":"tag-alex-caruso","11":"tag-bane","12":"tag-basketball","13":"tag-caruso","14":"tag-chet","15":"tag-chet-holmgren","16":"tag-city","17":"tag-commerce","18":"tag-conference","19":"tag-connect","20":"tag-contains","21":"tag-contains-commerce-or-affiliate-content","22":"tag-content","23":"tag-desmond","24":"tag-desmond-bane","25":"tag-dort","26":"tag-exclude","27":"tag-exclude-from-paywall-logic-testing","28":"tag-from","29":"tag-gilgeous-alexander","30":"tag-grizzlies","31":"tag-hartenstein","32":"tag-holmgren","33":"tag-isaiah","34":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","35":"tag-ja","36":"tag-ja-morant","37":"tag-jackson","38":"tag-jalen","39":"tag-jalen-williams","40":"tag-jaren","41":"tag-jaren-jackson-jr","42":"tag-jr","43":"tag-local","44":"tag-local-connect","45":"tag-logic","46":"tag-luguentz","47":"tag-luguentz-dort","48":"tag-memphis","49":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","50":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","51":"tag-modular","52":"tag-modular-story","53":"tag-morant","54":"tag-national","55":"tag-national-sports","56":"tag-nba","57":"tag-nba-playoffs","58":"tag-nba-western-conference","59":"tag-neutral","60":"tag-news","61":"tag-oklahoma","62":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","63":"tag-or","64":"tag-overall","65":"tag-overall-neutral","66":"tag-paywall","67":"tag-playoffs","68":"tag-point","69":"tag-shai","70":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","71":"tag-sports","72":"tag-sports-news","73":"tag-story","74":"tag-testing","75":"tag-the","76":"tag-thunder","77":"tag-to","78":"tag-to-the-point","79":"tag-western","80":"tag-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}