NBA playoff guide: Who plays when, how to watch, what the odds are
By The
Associated Press
Add Memphis' Ja Morant to the list of star players dealing with injuries in these playoffs, along with Boston's Jayson Tatum and Golden State's Jimmy Butler.
And for the Grizzlies, everyone was likely hurting in some way after Game 3.
Oklahoma City pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in NBA playoff history, rallying from 29 points down to beat Memphis on Thursday night and take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round series. Morant left in the second quarter; the Grizzlies were up by 27 when he departed.
Day 6 of the NBA playoffs on Thursday also saw New York hold off Detroit for a 2-1 lead in that series, and the Los Angeles Clippers take a 2-1 lead in their series against Denver by handing the Nuggets a 34-point loss — their worst of the season.
There are three games on Friday: Boston will seek a 3-0 series lead when it plays in Orlando, Indiana will aim for a 3-0 series lead when it plays in Milwaukee, and Minnesota plays host to the Los Angeles Lakers with that matchup tied 1-1.
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Boston at Orlando (ESPN)
8 p.m. — Indiana at Milwaukee (ESPNU, NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — LA Lakers at Minnesota (ESPN)
All times Eastern
1 p.m. — Cleveland at Miami (TNT)
3:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
6 p.m. — Denver at LA Clippers (TNT)
8:30 p.m. — Houston at Golden State (ABC)
All times Eastern
1 p.m. — New York at Detroit (ABC)
3:30 p.m. — LA Lakers at Minnesota (ABC)
7 p.m. — Boston at Orlando (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Indiana at Milwaukee (TNT)
Oklahoma City (+170) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+475), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1400), the Los Angeles Clippers (+1900), Golden State (+2500), New York (+3300), Minnesota (+4000), Indiana (+6600) and Houston (+6600).
The Clippers' odds moved a bit after they beat the Nuggets in Game 3, while the Warriors' odds took a slight hit given Butler's injury status.
From there, it's Denver (+12500), Milwaukee (+25000), Detroit (+25000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +150000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is still favored (-165) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston.
The Clippers also are a lower seed favored to advance; they're at -400 in the 4-5 matchup with Denver. The Lakers were underdogs in their series after losing Game 1; they moved barely back into the favorite role (-120) after winning Game 2 against Minnesota.
The third of the major NBA awards was announced Thursday, when Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
Other awards so far:
The hustle award winner will be revealed Friday at 2 p.m.
The league has not announced a schedule for other awards — including MVP, most improved player, coach of the year and rookie of the year — along with All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
Saturday — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, 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.
— Since relocating to Oklahoma City, the Thunder were 0-95 in games where they trailed by at least 27 points. They're 1-95 in those games now, after rallying from a 29-point deficit to beat Memphis on Thursday.
— Along those lines, since relocating to Memphis, the Grizzlies were 108-0 in games where they led by at least 28 points. They're 108-1 in those games now.
— New York's Jalen Brunson is the first Knicks player to score 100 points in the first three games of the playoffs since Bernard King had 128 in Games 1-3 of the team's first-round series in 1984. Like Brunson this year, King was facing Detroit in Round 1 that season.
— Denver's Nikola Jokic had a triple-double Thursday night against the Clippers. It was the second of these NBA playoffs. Both were by Jokic, both came in losses, and going back to last season teams are now 0-4 in the last four instances of a player having a playoff triple-double. Dallas was 0-2 in Luka Doncic's final two triple-double games in last year's playoff run. This is only the third time in NBA history that four consecutive triple-doubles came in losses; the others spanned the 2019 and 2020 playoffs and the 1970 and 1971 playoffs.
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