Two months from now, an NBA champion will be crowned. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder are +155 favorites to retain the title, but the other 15 teams in this playoff field should take solace in the fact that there hasn\u2019t been a back-to-back NBA title winner since the Golden State Warriors repeated in 2018. Parity seems to be the name of the game in today\u2019s league, as there are currently seven teams at Fanatics Sportsbook with +2000 odds or lower to win the championship.<\/p>\n
The long playoff road begins now, with eight first round series on tap. Below, we will dish out a betting preview for each first round matchup.<\/p>\n
Eastern Conference
1 Detroit Pistons vs. 8. Charlotte Hornets\/Orlando Magic
The Pistons have been living easy this week, watching the NBA Play-In Tournament from home. Their first round opponent will be decided Friday night, as the Hornets face the Magic in Orlando.<\/p>\n
Game 1 of Detroit versus either Charlotte or Orlando is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday in Detroit.<\/p>\n
If regular season results are any indicator, the Pistons would probably rather see the Hornets in Round 1. JB Bickerstaff\u2019s squad swept the season series against the Hornets, 3-0, and won those games by an average of 16.6 points. Detroit split its season series with the Magic, 2-2.<\/p>\n
The Pistons were 44-39-0 against the spread this season. Charlotte was an NBA-best 50-33-0 ATS, while the Magic was 38-45-0 ATS.<\/p>\n
Detroit games have gone Over the total 38 times this season, and have gone Under 43 times. One Pistons game in the regular season hit the total on the nose.<\/p>\n
2 Boston Celtics vs. 7 Philadelphia 76ers
Celtics vs. Sixers. It\u2019s a great rivalry in the same sense that the hammer and the nail are great adversaries. Joel Embiid even said himself a few years back, \u201cThis is not a rivalry. They always kick our ass.\u201dIndeed, Boston has beaten the 76ers in six straight playoff series. Philly has not beaten Boston in a playoff series since 1982.<\/p>\n
The teams split their 2025-26 regular season series, 2-2. In a strange scheduling quirk, the two teams met three times between Opening Night on Oct. 22, 2025 and Nov. 11, 2025, with Philly taking two-out-of-three of the early-season meetings.<\/p>\n
Their only meeting in the second half of the 2025-26 regular season came on March 1, when Boston\u2019s Neemias Queta went off for 27 points and 17 rebounds in a 114-98 Celtics win. It should be noted that the Sixers were without Embiid and Paul George that night, and Jayson Tatum had not yet returned for the Celtics.<\/p>\n
Boston has the second-best against the spread record in the NBA, owning a 49-33-0 mark. Philly is not too shabby itself with a 44-39-0 record.<\/p>\n
Joe Mazzulla\u2019s C\u2019s were not kind to Over bettors this season, though, as they went Over the number a league-worst 30 times. They went Under 52 times.<\/p>\n
Philly games, meanwhile, went Over 40 times and Under 43 times.<\/p>\n
The Celtics are -12.5 favorites for Game 1, which will take place at TD Garden in Boston at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Boston is a -900 favorite to win the series.<\/p>\n
3 New York Knicks vs. 6. Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young isn\u2019t walking through that door\u2014and neither the Knicks or Hawks should care anymore. The Knicks are an entirely different team than the one that fell to Young\u2019s Hawks in a memorable first round series in 2021. And Atlanta, which traded Young to the Wizards this past January, has thrived since moving on from the ball-dominant guard.<\/p>\n
Atlanta is now led by young stars Jalen Johnson (22.5 ppg) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (20.8 ppg) with Dyson Daniels emerging as one of the top defenders in the NBA.<\/p>\n
Atlanta has been one of the hottest teams in the league in the past month-and-a-half, having gone 16-5 since March 1. One of those five losses came at the hands of the Knicks, which downed Atlanta 108-105 at State Farm Arena on April 6. Jalen Brunson was spectacular, tallying 30 points and 13 assists.<\/p>\n
The Knicks won the season series, 2-1. The away team won all three games in matchups between these two teams this season.<\/p>\n
Atlanta went 44-38-0 against the spread in the 2025-26 regular season, while the Knicks went 44-39-0 ATS.<\/p>\n
Betting the total on Hawks games this season was difficult as Atlanta\u2019s Over\/Under record was an even 41-41-0. Knicks games went Over the total 38 times, and went Under the number 44 times.<\/p>\n
Game 1 of Hawks vs. Knicks is set for 6 p.m. ET Saturday at Madison Square Garden. New York is a -5.5 favorite.<\/p>\n
The Knicks are -275 to win the series at Fanatics Sportsbook.<\/p>\n
4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 5. Toronto Raptors
The Cavs and Raptors played three times this season, with the Raptors winning all three games. You can pretty much ignore all three of those Toronto wins, however, as each of them came before Thanksgiving, and each of them came before the Cavs completely shook up their roster mid-season. Darius Garland and De\u2019Andre Hunter were sent packing in separate trades. In return, the Cavs wound up with James Harden, Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder.<\/p>\n
Cleveland was sharp down the stretch of the regular season as it compiled a record of 15-6 since March 1.<\/p>\n
Toronto was quite mediocre in the final month-and-a-half, as it owns an 11-11 mark since March 1. The Raptors are led by Brandon Ingram (21.5 ppg), RJ Barrett (19.3 ppg), and Scottie Barnes (18.1 ppg).<\/p>\n
The Cavs are tied with the Wizards for having the worst against the spread record in the NBA, with a 33-49-0 mark. Toronto, meanwhile, is 42-40-0 ATS.<\/p>\n
Raptors Under bettors have cashed more often than not as 50 Toronto games have gone Under the number so far this season, with 32 going Over. Forty Cavs games have gone Over this season, with 42 going Under.<\/p>\n
The Raptors and Cavs will kick off the NBA postseason slate, as they will square off in Game 1 on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET in Toronto. The Cavs are -555 to win the series.<\/p>\n
Western Conference
1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns\/Golden State Warriors
The defending champion Thunder have their feet up at the moment as they await the winner of Suns vs. Warriors, which takes place Friday night in Phoenix.<\/p>\n
Whichever team wins on Friday, will have to travel to OKC for a 3:30 ET Game 1 on Sunday against the Thunder.<\/p>\n
OKC went 3-1 against the Suns this season, and 4-0 against the Warriors this season.<\/p>\n
OKC is 39-43-0 against the spread this season. The Suns are 47-36-0 ATS, while the Warriors are 36-47-0 ATS.<\/p>\n
SGA and crew are the favorites to win the title as the 2026 Playoffs begin, with a +115 price at Fanatics Sportsbook.<\/p>\n
2 San Antonio Spurs vs. 7. Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers enter this series fresh off a 114-110 Play-In Tournament win over the Suns. Portland climbed out of an 11-point fourth quarter hole to get the win in Phoenix and advance to the true postseason. Deni Avdija was phenomenal in the game against the Suns, as he pumped in 41 points.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for Avdija, the strength of his game (getting to the rim) could be completely wiped out by Victor Wembanyama in this series. Wemby is averaging an NBA-best 3.1 blocks per game this season. Chet Holmgren is second on that leaders list and averages 1.9 blocks per game to give you an idea of just how dominant Wemby has been on the defensive end of the floor.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just Wemby either. As a team, the Spurs rank third in the NBA in defensive efficiency (107.9).<\/p>\n
Working in Portland\u2019s favor is that they will have Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant available against the Spurs. Both players have been banged up during the second half of the season.<\/p>\n
Mitch Johnson\u2019s Spurs are 46-35-2 against the spread, which is the third-best mark in the NBA. Portland also has a strong ATS record, checking in at 45-38-0. As far as totals go, Portland games have gone Over 43 times this season, and Under 40 times.<\/p>\n
San Antonio games have gone Over 37 times, and Under 46 times.<\/p>\n
The Spurs are a whopping -2000 favorite to win the series. Game 1 is set for 9 p.m. ET Sunday in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
3 Denver Nuggets vs. 6. Minnesota Timberwolves
When the Nuggets take the court for Game 1 of their series against the Timberwolves on Saturday, it will have been exactly one month since their last loss. Denver is on a burner, having won 12 games in a row. Their last loss came on March 18, a 125-118 defeat to the Grizzlies in Memphis. Things have not been as rosy for the Wolves of late, as they are just 12-10 since March 1.<\/p>\n
Nikola Jokic is operating at an historic level at the moment, as he finished the regular season as the first player in NBA history to lead the league in both assists and rebounds.<\/p>\n
Minnesota and Denver staged an absolute classic in the playoffs two years ago, as Anthony Edwards and Co. edged the Nuggets in 7 games in the conference semi-finals.<\/p>\n
The Wolves then beat the Nuggets all four times in the regular season in 2024-25. This season, Denver has exacted some form of revenge as it won the regular season series, 3-1. Minnesota won the last meeting, on March 1, as the Wolves got a 20-point performance out of Jaden McDaniels en route to a 117-108 victory.<\/p>\n
David Adelman\u2019s Nuggets are 44-38-0 against the spread this season, while the T\u2019Wolves are 36-46-0 ATS.<\/p>\n
Over bettors adore the Nuggets as they are the best in the NBA at going Over the number. Denver has gone Over 52 times this season, and Under 30 times.<\/p>\n
Wolves games have gone Over 37 times this season, and Under 45 times.<\/p>\n
Game 1 of Wolves vs. Nuggets is set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Denver. The Nuggets are -6.5 favorites.<\/p>\n
Denver is a -350 series favorite.<\/p>\n
4 LA Lakers vs. 5. Houston Rockets
The Rockets drew the short end of the stick in last year\u2019s playoffs, as they had to deal with Steph Curry and Warriors in Round 1. Houston was a 2 seed at the time, and Golden State was an over-qualified 7 seed. Curry and the Dubs wound up winning the series in 7 games.<\/p>\n
This year, the Rockets are a 5 seed, but drew the Lakers, a team that is missing its top two scorers in Luka Doncic (33.5 ppg) and Austin Reaves (23.3 ppg). Doncic is dealing with a hamstring strain, and Reaves is dealing with an oblique strain. Neither will play early in the series, but there is a sliver of hope for the Lakers that one or both could return if the series goes 6 or 7 games.<\/p>\n
The Lakers have an against the spread record of 46-36-0 this season. Houston is 36-46-0 ATS.<\/p>\n
The Lakers Over\/Under record is an even 41-41-0. Houston games, meanwhile, have gone Over the total 39 times and Under the total 42 times. On one occasion, it hit the O\/U on the nose.<\/p>\n
The Rockets are a heavy -600 to win this series over the Lakers at Fanatics Sportsbook. The most likely outcome is Rockets in 6 (+240).<\/p>\n
Game 1 of this series is set for 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two months from now, an NBA champion will be crowned. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder are +155…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-712813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-oklahoma","11":"tag-oklahoma-city","12":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","13":"tag-oklahomacity","14":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","15":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116422854847263742","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712813","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=712813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}