With the final day of the NBA regular season now concluded, the majority of Playoff matchups, along with odds from most operators, have been set for the remaining teams around the league.
At the conclusion of April 13, the final matchups of the 2024-2025 NBA regular season had hit zero on the game clocks, leaving fans and analysts around the league to dissect the resulting postseason matchups which will begin in the coming days. While certain seeding will still need to be determined through the Play-In tournament, the majority of series have been given odds by sportsbooks such as FanDuel, leaving plenty of intrigue for bettors looking to take advantage of early value. With surprising finishes to the regular season for many franchises, most notably the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies, there are plenty of ways bettors can find prime payout opportunities before the Play-In matchups tip-off on April 15.
As part of the tournament this season, the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks will battle for the seven seed in the Eastern conference, while the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors will do the same in the Western conference. In the nine-10 matchups, the Eastern conference will feature the Miami Heat heading to Chicago to take on the Bulls, while the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings will go head-to-head to keep its title hopes alive. Currently on FanDuel, the Warriors are a strong seven-point favorite on the spread, while the moneyline considerably favors Golden State at -290. Memphis fired head coach Taylor Jenkins just days before the postseason is set to begin, helping to exemplify the turmoil that has clearly built within the Grizzlies locker room during 2024-2025.
Whether the firing of Jenkins will inspire an uproar amongst the roster remains to be seen, but the Warriors have been incredible ever since acquiring forward Jimmy Butler at the deadline, and will most likely be able to claim victory at home on April 15. A win for Golden State would mean holding the seven seed in the Western conference, leading to a first round matchup with the talented, albeit postseason untested Houston Rockets.
Orlando stands as a -198 favorite against Atlanta on FanDuel, including a five-point advantage on the spread, as the Magic and Hawks have both been decimated by injury throughout the year. The Magic will still have Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner on the floor, however, which should be enough to advance past Trae Young and the Hawks, with a first round series against the reigning champion Boston Celtics awaiting the winner.
Miami and Chicago, two franchises which were certainly hoping for more out of 2024-2025, will need a victory on April 15 in order to advance to the second round of the Play-In stage, in which it would face the loser of Atlanta and Orlando. Chicago currently sits as a one-point favorite on FanDuel over the Heat, as Miami has failed to find any sort of consistency since Butler departed the team in February, while the Bulls have found a groove of sorts since sending Zach LaVine to Sacramento. As a -112 favorite, it would be surprising to see Miami pull off the upset, although at -104 itself, FanDuel seems to have plenty of faith the Heat can still make a run towards the postseason.
Dallas and Sacramento have each made significant moves this season, both having lost its franchise star in Luka Doncic and De’Aaron Fox, respectively. The Kings are five-point favorites on FanDuel to face the loser of the Memphis and Golden State matchup, but the Mavericks will still offer Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson in response to LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis. At +162, it may be worth putting a small wager on the Mavericks, given Davis’ defensive capabilities on Sabonis and Thompson’s ability to take over games with his three-point shooting.
For the Eastern conference Playoff matchups that have already been determined, the New York Knicks sit as a -390 favorite over the Detroit Pistons, in what is sure to be a bloodbath of a first round series. Detroit has been the most surprising team of the 2024-2025 season, improving its win total by nearly 30 games from how it ended the 2023-2024 season, rallying around new head coach JB Bickerstaff. Despite the +310 odds handed down by FanDuel, the Pistons will surely make a series out of its contest with the Knicks, while New York should be considered as the favorite given its star power of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Detroit have been fighting for recognition all season, even performing as one of the best underlying metrics teams in all of basketball throughout the second half, while point guard Cade Cunningham has finally ascended to become one of the best players across the entire sport. Typically role player Malik Beasley has gone from a three-and-D asset to one of the best bench players in the NBA this season, shooting well over 40% from three-point range in limited minutes off the bench. Cunningham and Beasley would have to perform at an unforeseen level in order for Detroit to advance past New York, as Brunson, Towns and company have all shined under the bright lights of the postseason before.
The Indiana Pacers are set to take on the Milwaukee Bucks as -198 favorites on FanDuel, which could even be more favorable given that Milwaukee will be without starting point guard Damian Lillard for most likely the entire series. Milwaukee still features one of the best players in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the “Greek Freak” will essentially have to become Superman in order for Milwaukee to make a second round appearance. At +166, the odds for Milwaukee are probably only going to become more unfavorable as bettors hop on Indiana, as the Pacers have found a strong nucleus centered around point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
In what could perhaps be the most interesting series across the entire first round, the Los Angeles Lakers will battle the Minnesota Timberwolves, featuring Hollywood-level star power in the forms of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards. Doncic knocked Minnesota out of the postseason last year with a dominant performance in the Western Conference Finals for Dallas, but Edwards will have a shot at redemption even as a +152 underdog heading into the series.
Los Angeles will need to counter the Timberwolves’ potential big lineup of Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, as Los Angeles has failed to successfully replace Davis’ contributions despite landing Doncic in the transaction. If the Lakers can force Minnesota to play small with Reid at the five, James and Doncic will be free to attack the rim, leaving space open for rising star Austin Reaves to create along the perimeter. Minnesota will need to keep Lakers center Jaxson Hayes on the floor, as it would severely limit the Lakers shooting ability from three especially if Rui Hachimura or Jarred Vanderbilt is on the floor as well.
Finally, Denver will attempt to rebound from firing head coach Michael Malone, which came even more recently than Memphis’ dismissal of Jenkins, and more shocking due to Malone having won the NBA Championship in 2022-2023. At -120, it is quite shocking to see the Nuggets favored over the Los Angeles Clippers, listed with odds of +102, in what is sure to be a highly anticipated first round matchup. It would not come as a shock in the slightest to see Los Angeles favored over Denver by the time the series begins in less than seven days, as the Nuggets have been a shell of the team that won the title less than two years ago. As long as Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard can stay healthy throughout the entire series, the +102 odds for Los Angeles appear like an easy cash-in opportunity for bettors prior to the start of the first round.
