Who Will Go All the Way

With the NBA 2023 Playoffs about to start we decided to give you our view on things. As well as, some useful NBA Playoffs Betting Tips. We will start with the big picture and boldly state our claim about who will win the title and each Conference even before the playoffs begin.

NBA Playoffs Predictions

We start our NBA Playoff Betting Predictions with some outright free tips for you:

NBA Champions

We really think 2023 will be another year in which everyone should Fear the Deer. We really can’t see past the best win-loss team during the regular season and the 2020-21 NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks  for the title. The Bucks might be having their share of injury issues, mainly Khris Middleton. However, they played pretty much the entire season without him, or at least with very little of him, and they still won the East.

We think this is crucial as it gives the Bucks easy first 2 playoff rounds, at least on paper. At the same time, their 2 main rivals Celtics and the 76ers will clash in round 2 of the playoffs, with whoever comes on top much likelier to be tired and bruised. The same is valid for the wide-open West where as many as 7 teams have aspirations to reach the NBA Finals. This will likely see the Bucks facing a really tired opponent when it comes time for the title decider. All that, plus the fact that over the last 3 decades, 71% of the eventual NBA Champions were also the teams that ended the regular season with the best win-loss record, makes us back the Bucks for the title.

Conference Champions

If we think the Milwaukee Bucks will win it all we obviously believe in them to be the Eastern Conference champions.

However, the picture in the West is much murkier as it’s hard to make a strong case for any team. It’s also hard to deny that all playoff teams in the Western Conference have star players that can win any game. The big issue for every Western Conference team this season has been health and availability.

Still, we give it our best shot and after many analyses, we think the Phoenix Suns or the Memphis Grizzlies will win the Western Conference. Our NBA Playoff Betting Predictions have these 2 sides neck and neck for reaching the Western Conference finals and as we don’t know which of the teams will have fewer injury issues it’s hard to make a firm prediction. Still, if we assume that Kevin Durant and Chris Paul are at least half-healthy and Devin Booker continues to play lights out any given night we think the Suns will win the West.

NBA Playoffs Betting Tips for the First Round

Now we give our NBA Playoff Predictions for each series of the opening round.

Eastern Conference

Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs. Miami Heat (8)

The Milwaukee Bucks ended the regular season with the best record in the entire NBA – 58 wins and 24 losses. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his experienced teammates seek their second title in 3 years and we simply can’t see past the Bucks winning their first-round series against the ageing Miami Heat outfit.

The Heat lost their first play-in game to the Hawks but then improved defensively to edge the Chicago Bulls at home and sneak into the postseason. Jimmy Butler is yet to show his vintage “Playoff Jimmy” form. Even, if he is at his best his supporting cast seems to struggle so we think the Bucks will breeze past this series in 4 or 5 games.

Boston Celtics (2) vs. Atlanta Hawks (7)

The Boston Celtics led the NBA for the vast majority of the regular season. Unlikely back in 2022 though when they peaked at the right time and reached the NBA Finals the Celtics seem to be in decline since the All-Star Break. Still, our NBA Playoff Betting Tips can’t ignore the team with the 2nd best record in the league against the very moody and unpredictable on most days Hawks. We think the Celtics will and we also believe that they won’t drop more than 1 game in this series as they will be eager to preserve energy before the real battles begin.

Philadelphia 76ers (3) vs. Brooklyn Nets (6)

The Philadelphia 76ers have the best scorer in the league in Joel Embiid and the assists leader in James Harden. The Sixers have a very inflexible game plan though and can hardly surprise anyone. However, against a revamped Nets outfit that traded out their 2 best players in February Philly should win. Our NBA Playoff Predictions also back the 76ers to do that in maximum of 5 games.

Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs. New York Knicks (5)

The closest first-round series in the East will be undoubtedly between the Cavs and the Knicks. Both outfits are delighted to be back in the playoffs, both already rate their season as a success and step forward. Yet, both would love to progress past the first round.

We think this series has the potential to go 6, or even 7 games, but ultimately our NBA Playoff Betting Tip is for the Cavaliers to progress. We believe in Donovan Mitchell and we think he will be the game-changer when it matters most.

Western Conference

Denver Nuggets (1) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (8)

Nikola Jokic and the fully-fit Jamal Murray come into the playoffs full of hope and confidence after being consistent. They are now starting their quest to reach another Western Conference final with a potential banana-skin matchup against the unpredictable T-wolves. The Wolves eventually got into the playoffs after losing their first play-in match vs the Lakers dramatically in overtime but then beating the Thunder at home.

KAT is a player that on a good night can cause Jokic problems. Edwards should match well vs Murray, so we think this round 1 series might be much more interesting and close than the label 1st vs 8th seed suggests. Denver should still be able to win but if Minnesota find a way to dominate the board they could cause an upset.

Memphis Grizzlies (2) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7)

Ja Morant and the Grizzlies are probably the most exciting team in the West. They certainly have depth, youth and all the arrogance to feel they can beat anyone. However, in this series, they come up against the King himself, yes LeBron James is back in the playoffs, and his experienced and much improved since tradeline day Lakers. We think this will be an exciting series and a possible return from injury for the Grizzlies for Steven Adams will have a massive impact.

Despite us not expecting it to be easy we ultimately think the Grizzlies will have way too much energy and we back them to win this series. If Adams is back he will limit Anthony Davies’ impact and this might be an easy 4-5 game series. Without Adams, the Grizzlies might struggle on the board but they should still be good enough to reach 4 wins first.

Sacramento Kings (3) vs. Golden State Warriors (6)

The Sacramento Kings are finally back in the Playoffs for the first time since 2006. Now they are up against the stumbling all-season defending champions Golden State Warriors. With Steph Curry fit enough to play, Klay Thompson finally hitting 3s again and Draymond Green gearing up for what is expected to be his swan-sing with the Warriors franchise we predict that the lower-seeded champs will have enough know-how to win this series.

Phoenix Suns (4) vs. LA Clippers (5)

The most unpredictable of all first-round series is shaping to be the Suns vs Clippers clash. Both teams were expected to do better, both are stuffed with All-Star calibre players, both have championship experience on their rosters, and both can’t stay fit enough for long even if their lives depend on it.

With all that in mind our final NBA Playoff Prediction comes with great trepidation but we back the Phoenix Suns to progress in 6 or 7 games. Not because of KD, Book, or Paul. Simply because the Clippers will be without their second-best player Paul George, injured for the series, and because when it matters most Russel Westbrook is likelier to commit a turnover than to produce a game-winning bucket. In the end, in such a close duel we think these small details will make the difference.