NBA playoff guide: Who plays when, how to watch, what the odds are
Here we go. It’s time for the NBA conference finals.
Starting Tuesday, there will be one game for at least eight consecutive nights — and maybe as many as 14 consecutive nights.
It starts with the Western Conference opener, Oklahoma City vs. Minnesota, on Tuesday. The Eastern Conference opener, New York vs. Indiana, is Wednesday. And the series keep alternating from there, one playing one day, the other playing the next day.
This much is certain: It’ll be seven different champions — Toronto in 2019, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers, then Milwaukee, Golden State, Denver, Boston and TBA this year — in the last seven seasons, a run of parity never before seen in NBA history.
Stories of note
— Inside the numbers going into the conference finals
— Teams looking ahead: Boston,Cleveland and Denver
— Knicks-Pacers rivalry has produced memorable moments
Tuesday’s national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Minnesota at Oklahoma City (ESPN)
Wednesday’s national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — Indiana at New York (TNT)
Thursday’s national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Minnesota at Oklahoma City (ESPN)
Friday’s national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — Indiana at New York (TNT)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-175) is the big favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. New York (+450) is the second choice, followed by Minnesota (+600) and Indiana (+800).
Home teams are predictably favored for Game 1s: Oklahoma City is a 7.5-point favorite on Tuesday, New York is a 4.5-point favorite on Wednesday.
Conference finals schedules
East (all 8 p.m. EDT) — Game 1 at New York on Wednesday, Game 2 at New York on Friday, Game 3 at Indiana on Sunday, Game 4 at Indiana on May 27, Game 5 at New York on May 29, Game 6 at Indiana on May 31, Game 7 at New York on June 2.
West (all 8:30 p.m. EDT) — Game 1 at Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Game 2 at Oklahoma City on Thursday, Game 3 at Minnesota on Saturday, Game 4 at Minnesota on May 26, Game 5 at Oklahoma City on May 28, Game 6 at Minnesota on May 30, Game 7 at Oklahoma City on June 1.
An Indy doubleheader
Mark your calendars, then start your engines.
For the first time since 2013, Indianapolis will play host to the Indianapolis 500 and a Pacers home game on the same day.
It’ll happen Sunday. The race starts the day, then Game 3 of the East finals is at 8 p.m.
Award season
The All-Rookie team will be revealed Tuesday afternoon.
There’s still no word on when the NBA will announce this season’s MVP. It’ll be Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Also coming in the next few weeks: the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
Other awards so far:
— Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti won executive of the year
— Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year
— Boston’s Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award
— Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels won most improved player
— San Antonio’s Stephon Castle won rookie of the year
— Golden State’s Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award
— Golden State’s Draymond Green won the hustle award
— Cleveland’s Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year
— New York’s Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year
— Boston’s Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year’s playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
44 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13
43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
42 — Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
39 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
Key upcoming events
Tuesday — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
Wednesday — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 1 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Draft lottery
Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery — but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery on Monday night in Chicago.
— Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn’t forgotten his roots
— From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey
— A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill
— Mavs win lottery
— Rick Welts has seen this before
Comeback season
There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That’s the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
Stats of the day
— Road teams went 12-11 in the conference semifinals this year. And over the last two seasons, road teams went a combined 13-7 in the conference finals.
— When Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton scores 20 points, the Pacers are 29-3 this season.
Quote of the day
“It’s the Western Conference Finals. The guys working these games aren’t here (by) accident. I don’t think they’re influenced by anything I say, anything our team says. I don’t think they’re compromised by anything anybody else says.” — Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault, on the role of officiating going into the series against Minnesota.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
By The Associated Press
