NBA postseason guide: Schedule, stories, betting odds, how to watch and more
by Tim Reynolds · The Washington TimesPhiladelphia and Portland evened their NBA playoff opening-round series with road wins on Tuesday, the Trail Blazers doing so in a game where San Antonio lost Victor Wembanyama to a concussion.
And at 41, LeBron James just keeps rolling.
James and the Los Angeles Lakers are up 2-0 over Houston after another victory on Tuesday night, the capper of a tripleheader day in the NBA playoffs.
Wednesday’s schedule features two games: Orlando at Detroit and Phoenix at Oklahoma City.
Tuesday recaps
- 76ers 111, Celtics 97 to tie series 1-1.
- Trail Blazers 106, Spurs 103 to tie series 1-1. And now, we wait for Wemby.
- Lakers 101, Rockets 94 for a 2-0 series lead.
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Stories of note
- Road teams are pushing back in playoffs
- Wolves’ Gobert challenging Nuggets’ Jokic
- Billy Donovan steps down as Chicago’s coach
- Warriors bracing for Kerr’s possible departure
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- NBA individual awards finalists are announced
- Some news and notes going into the postseason
- Playoff preview: Thunder seeking another title
- Heat equipment manager needs organ transplants
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- Natalie Sago the 3rd female ref picked for playoffs
- The view from Vegas says the West is the best
Awards watch
The first two awards of the season were handed out Monday and Tuesday, without any debate on whether the voters got things right.
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On Monday, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama - just 22 years old - became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.
The finalists were unveiled Sunday night, led by the top three in the MVP voting - the reigning winner in Gilgeous-Alexander, three-time winner Nikola Jokic of Denver and Wembanyama, a first-time finalist.
The schedule for upcoming announcements:
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- Wednesday, Sixth Man (6 p.m. EDT, ESPN). Finalists: Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver; Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami; Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.
- Thursday, Sportsmanship Award (Noon EDT, https://x.com/NBAPR).
- Friday, Most Improved Player (6:30 p.m. EDT, Prime). Finalists: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta; Deni Avdija, Portland; Jalen Duren, Detroit.
And the announcements that won’t be until next week, at the earliest:
- MVP: Gilgeous-Alexander; Jokic; Wembanyama.
- Coach of the Year: J.B. Bickerstaff, Detroit; Mitch Johnson, San Antonio; Joe Mazzulla, Boston.
- Rookie of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia; Cooper Flagg, Dallas; Kon Knueppel, Charlotte.
Wednesday’s games
7 p.m. EDT - Game 2, Orlando at Detroit (ESPN)
9:30 p.m. EDT - Game 2, Phoenix at Oklahoma City (ESPN)
Thursday’s games
7 p.m. EDT - Game 3, New York at Atlanta (Prime Video)
8 p.m. EDT - Game 3, Cleveland at Toronto (Prime Video)
9:30 p.m. EDT - Game 3, Denver at Minnesota (Prime Video)
Friday’s games
7 p.m. EDT - Game 3, Boston at Philadelphia (Prime Video)
8 p.m. EDT - Game 3, LA Lakers at Houston (Prime Video)
10:30 p.m. EDT - Game 3, San Antonio at Portland (Prime Video)
Betting odds
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-120) are bigger favorites to win the NBA title than they’ve been since the postseason began, according to oddsmakers.
The Thunder went below the even-money line after San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama left Game 2 of the Spurs’ series against Portland with a concussion, leaving his status - at least for Game 3 on Friday - a bit uncertain.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+550), Boston (+650), Cleveland (+1300), Denver (+1500), Detroit (+2200) and New York (+2200). The Los Angeles Lakers - who were among the favorites before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt, then saw their odds soar to as much as +30000 - are now back to +4000.
Key dates
- May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
- May 10: NBA draft lottery.
- May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
- May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
- May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
- June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
- June 23: Round 1, NBA draft
- June 24: Round 2, NBA draft
Quote of the day
- “It’s still a tall challenge - 7-foot-tall, too. I know he don’t like it. He hates it. He might be mad at me. He wants to be 6-10 or 6-9 so bad, but he’s 7-foot for sure.” - the Lakers’ LeBron James, on facing Houston’s Kevin Durant, who insists he’s not a 7-footer (despite years of opponents suggesting otherwise).
Stats of the day
- LeBron James now has 70 playoff games with at least 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. That’s two more than the next three players on that list - Michael Jordan (24), Nikola Jokic (23) and Larry Bird (21) - have combined.
- The Spurs had won 76 consecutive playoff games when leading by 14 or more points at any time in the fourth quarter before Tuesday night’s loss to Portland. The most recent such loss, before now, was May 19, 2003 against Dallas. (Spoiler alert: The Spurs still went on to win that season’s NBA title.)
- Philadelphia became the first team since Dallas in 2016 to lose Game 1 of its opening round series by at least 32 points - but recover to win Game 2.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba