The NBA play-in tournament got underway Tuesday night, with the seventh-place teams in each conference hosting the eighth-place teams. Both of the home teams won, as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-108, behind 34 points from Kyrie Irving, to take the seventh seed in the playoffs. Now the Cavaliers will host the winner of Charlotte-Atlanta, set for Wednesday night. In the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves went on a 21-6 run to finish a 190-104 win over the L.A. Clippers, behind 30 points from Anthony Edwards. The Timberwolves now have the seventh seed in the playoffs, while the Clippers now wait to host the New Orleans-San Antonio winner. Let’s look at the updated NBA betting odds for each of the remaining 20 teams in contention to win their conference titles.
NBA News: Updated Conference Championship Odds
Eastern Conference
| Milwaukee Bucks | +220 |
| Brooklyn Nets | +350 |
| Miami Heat | +400 |
| Boston Celtics | +425 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | +600 |
| Toronto Raptors | +2800 |
| Chicago Bulls | +5500 |
| Atlanta Hawks | +9000 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | +20000 |
| Charlotte Hornets | +30000 |
Western Conference
| Phoenix Suns | +110 |
| Golden State Warriors | +400 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | +500 |
| Utah Jazz | +800 |
| Denver Nuggets | +1400 |
| Dallas Mavericks | +1800 |
| L.A. Clippers | +2500 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | +2800 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | +25000 |
| San Antonio Spurs | +100000 |
Don’t worry about those losses by Phoenix in the last week of the regular season, as the team decided to rest Chris Paul and Devin Booker for a couple of contests. Those games turned into losses to Sacramento and the Clippers, but the Suns did beat the Lakers and Utah with their starters on the floor.
Memphis finally got Ja Morant back after a nine-game absence, and it looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. In the third quarter against New Orleans, the Grizzlies erupted for 55 points. On Sunday, Memphis rested their starters in a loss to Boston and now prepare for a best-of-seven series against Minnesota.
Miami lost their regular season finale to Orlando, but they had already clinched the Eastern Conference’s top seed, and they had a six-game winning streak going into that final game. Remember that dustup between Erik Spoelstra and Jimmy Butler? That all seems peaceful now, as the Heat focuses on getting healthy for the playoffs.
Boston lost to Milwaukee on Thursday but still finished ahead of them for the two-seed thanks to that win over Memphis on Sunday. Jayson Tatum had sat out the Milwaukee game but put up 30 points against Memphis to finish his best season to date.
Milwaukee had its starters rest on Sunday against Cleveland and took the L, leading the Bucks into a first-round series with Chicago. The Bucks don’t mind that matchup, though, because Milwaukee did not lose to Chicago at all in the regular season.
Golden State got 41 from Klay Thompson in the last game of the season, a win over NEw Orleans that ensured the Warriors would have the three-seed in the West. Last week, the Warriors won all three games, also beating the Lakers and San Antonio. Stephen Curry returns to the team for the playoffs as well.
Dallas went 3-0 in the last week of the season, including a 50-point demolition of the tanking Portland Trail Blazers and a 10-point win over San Antonio on Sunday. The big problem in Dallas is Luka Doncic’s left calf, as Dallas’ top player limped off in the third quarter against the Spurs. Luckily, the Mavericks don’t open the postseason until Saturday.
Toronto got a huge week from Pascal Siakam, who keyed them to wins over Atlanta, Philadelphia and Houston, and they secured the fifth seed in the playoffs; on Sunday, the Raptors lost to the Knicks, but Siakam and Fred VanVleet were both resting.
NBA Betting Odds
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