NBA Playoffs Betting Odds

As the 2022-23 NBA Playoffs tip-off, the Milwaukee Bucks are the betting favorite to be the last team standing. 

The Bucks finished a game better than the Boston Celtics for the league’s best record.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are an interesting team to watch.

The Lakers have battled injuries and age for most of the year but gained momentum late in the season and made the play-in tournament.

At +2200 to win it all, King James and company could make a few NBA bettors a sizable profit if they can surprise the sportsbooks and be the last team standing.

NBA Playoffs – Contenders

Eastern Conference

Milwaukee Bucks (+265)

Despite resting players at the end of the season, Milwaukee still finished with the best overall record in the NBA, finishing one game ahead of the Boston Celtics.

The Bucks are led by their big man, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is also the playoff MVP betting favorite.

However, Milwaukee proved that they are more than just Giannis. The Bucks were still a formidable opponent when the big man went down for nine games this regular season.

Boston Celtics (+350)

The Celtics had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the entire league.

Head to Head against Milwaukee, the Celtics finished 2-1, with their lone loss being in overtime.

These two teams aren’t slated to face each other unless they make the Eastern Conference finals.

However, if that happens, Milwaukee should be the betting favorite. Boston could have some enticing odds to beat the Bucks and find their way into the NBA finals for the second year in a row.

Western Conference

Phoenix Suns (+425)

The Phoenix Suns finished with a record of 45-37 in the regular season, which was only good enough for fourth overall in the Western Conference.

However, anytime a team can pick up Kevin Durant at the trade deadline, you can expect their championship odds to jump, and that’s precisely what happened this year.

With Durant and Devin Booker on the floor, the Suns will be able to score. Will it be enough to overcome the top teams in the West? We are about to find out.

Golden State Warriors (+950)

The defending champs are slipping under most experts’ radar as the playoffs begin. Golden State had a very up-and-down regular season. The Warriors won just 44 games this year while losing 38.

However, their 44-38 record doesn’t tell the whole story. At home, Golden State was 33-8. On the road, the Warriors were an embarrassing 11-30.

If they expect to repeat as NBA champions, they will have to figure out how to win at least a couple of games on the road during the playoffs.

How The NBA Playoffs Work

Most of us know that the NBA is divided into Eastern and Western Conferences. An equal amount of teams from both conferences make the playoffs each year.

The Top 6 teams from the East and the Top 6 teams from the West automatically earn a playoff spot.

Teams ranked 7th – 10th in both conferences take part in what is called the play-in tournament.

Play-In Games

Each conference has a play-in tournament, which is game between teams who finished 7th – 10th during the regular season.

The teams ranked 7th and 8th need to win one game to advance. The teams ranked 9th and 10th need to win two games to advance.

Two of the four teams in the mini-tournament will advance to the regular playoff format and participate in a Best of 7 Round 1 playoff series.

NBA Playoff Series Format

After the mini-tournament to decide the final two playoff spots, each conference will have eight teams remaining.

Each team will face an opponent in a Round 1 – Best of 7 series, with the first team to win four games advancing to the next round.

This Best of 7 format is repeated until one team is left from each conference.

Those two remaining teams will then play each other in the NBA Finals, which is another Best of 7 series format.

Home Court Advantage In The NBA Playoffs

The home court is decided by seeding in the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs. The team with the better seed or rank gains a home-court advantage.

In the NBA Finals, the team with the better regular season win percentage is determined to have a home-court advantage.

The Milwaukee Bucks or Boston Celtics finished with the best record league-wide this year.

If either one of those teams comes out of the Eastern Conference and makes the finals, they will have home court advantage over whichever team from the Western Conference they face.

How To Bet On The NBA Playoffs

With an 82-game regular season and 30 different teams, there are many opportunities to bet on the NBA.

Once the playoffs begin, hardwood fans have even more options to place a wager on a game, series or their favorite teams to win it all.

Individual Games

Much like the regular season action, bettors can wager on individual playoff games. The traditional types of bets, such as point spread, moneyline, and totals betting, are still the most popular way for fans to bet on playoff games.

Series Odds

Another popular form of NBA Playoff betting is to wager on a team to win a series.

Series	Teams	Odds
Cleveland vs NY Knicks	Cleveland	-200
	NY Knicks	+165
Memphis vs LA Lakers	Memphis	-125
	LA Lakers	+105

Our table above is an example of how to bet on a couple of different NBA Playoff series.

For this type of wager, a bettor must decide which team will be the first to win four games and move on to the next round.

This isn’t a one-game bet, and the team you wager on can lose up to three times and still earn you a profit if they can advance to the next round.

Futures Betting

You can do futures betting year-round, but many bettors prefer to wait until the playoff matchups have been decided.

The most popular NBA Playoff futures bet is who will win the Championship. However, several different futures betting opportunities exist, including picking the teams to win the Eastern and Western conferences.

NBA Playoffs – Futures Betting

Teams	To Win Championship	To Win the Eastern Conference	To Win the Western Conference
Milwaukee Bucks	+265	+120	N/A
Boston Celtics	+310	+160	N/A
Phoenix Suns	+425	N/A	+190
Golden St. Warriors	+950	N/A	+350

Player Prop Betting In The NBA Playoffs

Although point spread betting is still the most popular form of NBA wagering, player props are becoming increasingly more popular.

While sports betting is only in its infancy across North America, basketball fans have been playing fantasy sports for a long time.

This fantasy sports knowledge translates nicely into player prop betting.

Bettors can focus on specific players instead of having to wager on teams and games they may not be as familiar with.

Some of the more popular types of player prop bets include:

• Total points
• Total assists
• Total rebounds
• Total 3-pointers made
• And more

NBA Playoff Game or Team Props

Sportsbooks will also offer a wide selection of game or team prop betting options for fans of NBA playoff action.

These game or team props are unrelated to player performance or the final score. Instead, they focus on specific events within a game, often referred to as a game, within game.

Some of the more popular available prop bets include:

• Predicting the exact score
• Team to score first
• Predicting the winning margin
• Team total points
• And more

NBA Prop Betting Strategies

With literally hundreds of different prop bets available for a single NBA playoff game, many bettors believe it’s easier to find an edge in the prop market, as opposed to trying to bet the point spread or total (over/under) for a specific game.

Player To Score First

One of the most popular prop bets available for NBA bettors is Player To Score The First Basket.

As the name suggests, bettors must decide which player will score the game’s first field goal. A sportsbook will provide ten players to choose from (5 from each team), with odds typically ranging from +300 to +2000.

For those looking for an edge with this fast-paced wager, you can use the BestOdds.com first field goal resource page.

Understanding which team has the advantage with the opening tip-off helps a bettor with their overall strategy with this type of bet.

How BestOdds Edge Can Help

Sports betting has gone through a recent revolution lately because of the amount of data the world has access to.

There was a time when the fight between bettors and sportsbooks could hardly have been considered fair because sportsbooks had access to more data and the resources and deep pockets to spend on technology to help analyze it.

However, thanks to some forward-thinking companies, bettors now have access to all the same data and insights the operators do.

BetsOdds Edge is sports betting software designed for bettors and not sportsbooks.

This software does all the heavy lifting, gathering relevant data, analyzing stats and trends, and making player-prop betting projections.

Suppose a bettor is genuinely interested in competing with sportsbooks and being a long-term profitable player.

BestOdds Edge can be a valuable tool that will equal the playing field and help us make the most informed decisions possible.

Always Shop Around

As discussed above, today’s bettor has access to software and technology that allows us the same data and insights sportsbooks have when setting their odds for games and player props.

However, the single greatest edge a bettor has over the sportsbooks is our ability to shop around and find the Best Odds available.

NBA Championship Odds

Team	DraftKings	FanDuel	BetMGM
Milwaukee Bucks	+265	+260	+275
Boston Celtics	+310	+330	+350
Phoenix Suns	+425	+480	+425
Los Angeles Lakers	+1600	+2200	+1400

Looking at our table above, we get a quick example of why shopping around provides such an edge for bettors.

Imagine betting on LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers at +1400 when FanDuel has them available at +2200.

For a $100 bettor, that is an increase of $800 in profit, just with a single wager.

With all four teams listed above, there is a significant ROI advantage for anyone willing to shop around and find their Best Odds.