After a grueling 82-game season the NBA playoffs are ready to tip off on Saturday, April 16th with the Milwaukee Bucks entering the fray as the defending champions. Twenty of the league’s 30 teams made it to the postseason but just 16 of those clubs will be competing in the showdown to be crowned champions as the league eliminated four teams in its play-in tournament.
All NBA playoff rounds are played as a best four-of-seven series with the higher-seeded team having home court advantage in four of the seven games if necessary. These are the first, second, fifth and seventh games of the series while the lower-seeded club hosts the third, fourth and sixth games of a series.
Once the playoffs get underway the clubs are never re-seeded and the higher-seeded team always gets home court advantage in each series.
The battle for basketball supremacy should be wide open in both the Eastern and Western Conference with plenty of intriguing matchups in the first round. The top six squads in each conference made the playoffs outright while the seventh to 10th-place teams in both conferences fought it out in the league’s play-in tournament to see who advanced to the final-16.
In the East, the seventh-place Brooklyn Nets took care of the eighth-place Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108 in their play-in game while the ninth-place Atlanta Hawks downed the 10th-place Charlotte Hornets 132-103.
Meanwhile, over in the West, the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves got past the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers 109-104 while the ninth-place New Orleans Pelicans handled the San Antonio Spurs 113-103.
The Hawks and Cavaliers then met in the East with Atlanta earning a 107-101 victory while the Pelicans downed the Clippers 105-101 in the West to earn their playoff spots.
This first-round Eastern Conference playoff showdowns as follows:
The top-seeded Miami Heat (53-29) vs the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks (43-39)
Regular season series – Miami Heat won 3-1
The second-seeded Boston Celtics (51-31) vs the seventh-seeded Brooklyn Nets (44-38)
Regular season series – Boston Celtics won 3-1
The third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (51-31) vs the sixth-seeded Chicago Bulls (46-36)
Regular season series – Milwaukee Bucks won 4-0
The fourth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers (51-31) vs the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors (48-34)
Regular season series – Toronto Raptors won 3-1
The Western Conference playoffs are as follows:
The top-seeded Phoenix Suns (64-18) vs the eighth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans (36-46)
Regular season series – Phoenix Suns won 3-1
The second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies (56-26) vs the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (46-36)
Regular season series – Ended in a 2-2 tie
The third-seeded Golden State Warriors (53-29) vs the sixth-seeded Denver Nuggets (48-34)
Regular season series – Denver Nuggets won 3-1
The fourth-seeded Dallas Mavericks (52-30) vs the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz (49-33)
Regular season series – Ended in a 2-2 tie
As far as previous NBA championships victories go, the Boston Celtics have won the league title 17 times, the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors six times each, the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers three times apiece, the Milwaukee Bucks twice and the Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks and the Atlanta Hawks once each. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans are all looking to win their first championship.
The oddsmakers at bet365 are listing the Phoenix Suns as the current favorites to win the NBA title at +250 followed by Milwaukee at +475, Brooklyn, Golden State and Boston all at +800, Miami at +900, Memphis at +1200, Philadelphia at +1400, Utah at +2200, Denver at +3000, Dallas at +4000, Toronto at +5000, Minnesota at +6600, Atlanta at +8000 with Chicago and New Orleans both at +10000.
Bet365 also offers live NBA wagering on the individual playoff games with a multitude of other popular bets such as: team to win a series, the team to win their conference, the playoff MVP, the total games a series will last, the correct score after game three, the correct score after game four and the correct score of the series etc.