NBA postseason guide: Schedule, stories, betting odds, how to watch and more
If it seems like this opening round of the NBA playoffs is taking more time than usual, that's because it is taking more time than usual.
Oklahoma City and San Antonio, they made quick work of Round 1.
The six other higher-seeded teams, they're in battles. There will be six Game 6s in Round 1 this season, the most the NBA has seen since 2014. A trio of Game 6s await on Thursday, followed by three more Game 6s on Friday.
On Thursday, New York (up 3-2) goes to Atlanta, Boston (up 3-2) visits Philadelphia and Denver (trailing 3-2) plays at Minnesota.
Then on Friday, Detroit (trailing 3-2) plays at Orlando, Cleveland (up 3-2) goes to Toronto and the Los Angeles Lakers (still up 3-2 after losing closeout chances in Games 4 and 5) head to Houston.
— Game 6, New York at Atlanta, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: New York, 3-2.
Odds: New York by 2.5.
The Hawks went 2-0 in Games 2 and 3 by a combined two points. The Knicks went 2-0 in Games 4 and 5 by a combined 45 points. Now Atlanta is back home, looking to keep its season alive.
— Game 6, Boston at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. EDT (Peacock/NBCSN)
Series: Boston, 3-2.
Odds: Boston by 5.5.
Philadelphia hasn't gone 0-3 at home in a Round 1 series since 1984, a best-of-five against New Jersey when road teams won all five games. The 76ers need a Thursday win to avoid it here.
— Game 6, Denver at Minnesota, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Minnesota, 3-2.
Odds: Denver by 5.5.
Shorthanded Minnesota gets a home closeout chance in the 18th playoff game between the rivals since 2023. Minnesota is 9-8 in them. Average score of those games: Wolves 106.4, Nuggets 105.9.
— Game 6, Detroit at Orlando, 7 p.m. EDT (Prime)
Series: Orlando, 3-2.
Odds: Detroit by 3.5.
Eighth-seeded Orlando let a 3-1 lead slip away against top-seeded Detroit in Round 1 in 2003. The Magic get another chance Friday night to ensure that such a fate won’t happen again this time.
— Game 6, Cleveland at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. EDT (Prime)
Series: Cleveland, 3-2.
Odds: Cleveland by 3.5.
The Raptors pushed Cleveland to the limit in Game 5 even with Brandon Ingram (heel) limited to one point in 11 minutes. The Cavaliers went 18 of 36 from 3-point range to win Game 5 at home.
— Game 6, LA Lakers at Houston, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Prime)
Series: Lakers, 3-2.
Odds: Houston by 4.5.
The Lakers are 0-2 in closeout chances in this series, and a Rockets team that isn’t lacking for swagger suddenly looks to be brimming with confidence. Lakers do not seem to be panicked, yet.
— Pistons 116, Magic 109 to get within 3-2 in series. The stars put on a show.
— Cavaliers 125, Raptors 120 for a 3-2 series lead. Dennis Schroder came up big.
— Rockets 99, Lakers 93 to get within 3-2 in series. LeBron James is not worried.
— NBA moves closer to lottery changes
— Jones enters guilty plea in gambling case
— Edwards (knee) officially week to week
— NBA going through bids from Europe
— Pat Riley says Heat will be ‘aggressive’
— Some news, notes going into the postseason
— Heat equipment manager needs transplants
DeAndre Jordan of the New Orleans Pelicans is an Olympic gold medalist, an NBA champion — and now, the best teammate in the NBA, too. Jordan was announced Wednesday as the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year, as selected by players around the league.
It was an extremely close vote, with three-time winner Jrue Holiday of Portland finishing second and Jeff Green of Houston finishing third.
On Thursday, the NBA will announce this season's Hustle Award winner.
A breakdown on the awards handed out to this point:
— San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.
— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.
— San Antonio's Keldon Johnson topped Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.
— Boston's Derrick White was revealed as the Sportsmanship Award winner, as selected by the league's players. Indiana's TJ McConnell — who got more first-place votes than anyone else — was second.
— Atlanta now has back-to-back Most Improved Player winners, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker taking that trophy this year. Dyson Daniels won for the Hawks last year.
— Dallas' Cooper Flagg edged fellow former Duke player Kon Knueppel of Charlotte for Rookie of the Year.
— Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics won the NBA’s Executive of the Year award, his second time receiving that honor in the last three seasons.
Among the announcements still to be scheduled:
— Most Valuable Player, which will be either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.
— Coach of the Year, which will be either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.
Cade Cunningham of Detroit and Paolo Banchero of Orlando both finished with 45 points on Wednesday night, when the Pistons beat the Magic in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
It was just the second time in NBA history that opposing players scored 45 points in the same playoff game. The other was Aug. 23, 2020, in the bubble near Orlando, when Utah's Donovan Mitchell scored 51 and Denver's Jamal Murray scored 50. The Jazz won 129-127.
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-130) are favorites to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+500), Boston (+525), Cleveland (+1400), New York (+2200), Denver (+3000), the Los Angeles Lakers (+3500) and Detroit (+4000).
Orlando, even with a 3-2 series lead on Detroit, is at +40000. Minnesota, even with a 3-2 series lead on Denver, is also at +40000 after injuries to Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards.
— Saturday, Sunday and/or Monday: Conference semifinals begin.
— May 10: NBA draft lottery.
— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft
— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft
“I was going to put Donovan and Evan back in and they said, ‘No, this group’s rolling.’ I was like, ‘What?’ That never happens in the NBA.” — Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson, on how Cavs stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley briefly delayed subbing back into the game in the fourth quarter Wednesday night because the unit on the floor at that time was playing so well.
— There will be at least 45 games needed to complete Round 1, the most since 2018.
— Underdogs have won 41% of games in Round 1, the most since 2014.
— The Lakers lost Games 4 and 5 with a chance to eliminate Houston. This is the second time a LeBron James team has lost two closeout-opportunity games. Cleveland lost Games 6 and 7 to Detroit in the 2006 East semifinals.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
