NBA Playoff Picture 2023: Bracket, Early Odds and Predictions

Eastern Conference

First Round

No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 8 seed

No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 5 New York Knicks

No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers vs. No. 6 Brooklyn Nets

No. 2 Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 seed

Play-In Tournament

No. 7 Miami Heat vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks

No. 9 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 10 Chicago Bulls

Western Conference

First Round

No. 1 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 8 seed

No. 4 Phoenix Suns vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers

No. 3 Sacramento Kings vs. No. 6 Golden State Warriors

No. 2 Memphis Grizzlies vs. No. 7 seed

Play-In Tournament

No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves

No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans vs. No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder

Milwaukee Bucks +240 (bet $100 to win $240)

Boston Celtics +370

Phoenix Suns +460

Golden State Warriors +750

Philadelphia 76ers +900

Denver Nuggets +1100

Los Angeles Lakers +2200

Memphis Grizzlies +2400

Los Angeles Clippers +4000

Cleveland Cavaliers +4200

Sacramento Kings +5000

New York Knicks +13000

Miami Heat +21000

Toronto Raptors +25000

Minnesota Timberwolves +25000

Atlanta Hawks +25000

Brooklyn Nets +37000

Oklahoma City Thunder +50000

Chicago Bulls +50000

New Orleans Pelicans +50000

The Heat took three of their four games with the Hawks this season, and in Atlanta's only win, it had zero answers for Jimmy Butler, who scored 34 points on 11-of-16 shooting (and a perfect 11-of-11 from the line). He won't let Miami lose this game on its home court.

Out West, the 7-8 game looks similarly easy to call.

The Lakers are finally healthy and not coincidentally playing their best basketball of the season (9-2 to close the campaign). The Wolves, meanwhile, just lost Jaden McDaniels to a fractured hand after he punched a wall, and who knows how they'll handle Rudy Gobert, who punched teammate Kyle Anderson earlier in that same game.

The 9-10 games are trickier, though one wouldn't be if the Pelicans had a healthy Zion Williamson (sadly, they won't).

Even without the bouncy big fella, though, New Orleans should have enough to handle the ahead-of-schedule squad from Oklahoma City. Toronto is a better balanced team than Chicago, but our crystal ball likes the Bulls' offensive firepower, particularly in a revenge game for DeMar DeRozan.

If that's how things play out, we'd finally have the Pelicans at the Timberwolves and the Bulls at the Hawks to settle the last two spots. Our crystal ball likes New Orleans and Atlanta in those matchups with huge games from Brandon Ingram and Trae Young, respectively, being the difference.

Odds, lines and betting splits refresh periodically and are subject to change. 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA (permitted parishes only), MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, KS, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, or WY.

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