NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinal game odds, previews and predictions
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Some big names and marquee teams are notably absent, but the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals still pack plenty of star power.
Now that we’re through group play, the Great Eight’s chase for the NBA Cup resumes Monday, with the Boston Celtics visiting the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference and the Sacramento Kings hosting the New Orleans Pelicans out West.
Tuesday features the East quarterfinal between the New York Knicks and host Milwaukee Bucks followed by the Western matchup between the Phoenix Suns and host Los Angeles Lakers.
Tip times each night are at 7:30 and (approximately) 10 p.m. ET with TNT televising all four games. Below, find our quarterfinal odds previews and predictions.
Also, try and make time to stop by our dedicated NBA betting sites page.
Emerging All-Star Tyrese Halliburton and the Pacers ranked as the league’s top offensive team entering the weekend, ranking No. 1 in points per game (127.9) and offensive rating (122.5).
But Indiana’s defensive rating of 120.2 ranked ahead of only the lowly Charlotte Hornets’ 120.9 figure — which helps explain why the Pacers were only 5-8 as of Friday apart from their 4-0 mark in IST group play.
Jayson Tatum and the Celtics entered the weekend with the league’s best record (15-4), average point differential (plus-9.3), and net rating (plus-9.5). And in their only game against the Pacers so far this season — a Nov. 1 meeting in Beantown — Boston posted one of the league’s most lopsided wins (155-104) of the season.
It figures to be much closer Monday night in Indy, but not close enough for the Pacers to get the cover.
De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and the Kings were sensational in IST pool play, going 4-0 and prevailing by an average of 7.5 points per contest to win West Group C.
Sacramento (10-7), though, headed into the weekend with a minus-point differential and net rating — both -0.6 — on the regular season as a whole.
New Orleans (11-9 is on the plus side of the ledger in both categories and just got one of its top scorers, guard CJ McCollum, back after an 11-game absence due to a collapsed lung.
The Pels got the best of the Kings — winning 129-93 and 117-112, respectively in a pair of home games on Nov. 20 and 22.
Monday night’s quarterfinal will be in Sacramento, but New Orleans should at least be able to keep things close even if they can’t pull the outright road upset.
Giannis Antekounmpo, Damian Lillard, and the Bucks (13-6, 4-0 IST) are the East’s top seed.
Entering the weekend, Milwaukee owned the East’s third-best winning percentage but was one of the league’s worst teams against the point spread at 7-11-1.
Julius Randle has returned to action for the Knicks, who were 12-7 SU, 10-7-2 ATS, and brought the league’s fourth-best defensive rating (109.0) into the weekend.
That should be enough to hang with the host Bucks and cover the largest spread in the quarterfinals.
By the numbers, LeBron James and the Lakers were the most impressive team in IST group play, going 4-0 with an average point differential of plus-18.5.
That’s earned them the No. 1 seed out West.
Outside of the tournament, though, the Lakers have won only seven of 16 games with a negative point differential of minus-23.
It’s much the same story for Kevin Durant and the Suns, who went 3-1 to claim the West’s wild-card berth but were a mediocre 8-7 otherwise on the season entering the weekend.
L.A. has already notched 100-95 and 122-119 (IST group play) wins over Phoenix this season.
And with two of the Suns’ Big Three — guards Kevin Booker and Bradley Beal — having missed a combined 25 games so far through Friday, it’s simply too tough to trust Phoenix in this situation.
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