With the final  regular season standings all but confirmed it’s time to take a look ahead to the NBA playoffs. Of course, we are still awaiting seedings to be finalised including the 8th and final place in the Western Conference which will be decided by a play-in tournament this weekend between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies have been less than impressive in the bubble. Taylor Jenkins’ team have went 2-6 since the end of July and just about held on to the 9th seed ahead of the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. To qualify for the final 16 they will have to beat Portland twice in a row this weekend.  The Blazers have been another one of the most impressive teams in the bubble finishing 6-2 over the 8 game stretch. Damian Lillard has recovered from a late collapse against the Clippers with three 40+ point performances.

So, without further ado, lets take a look at some of the key 1st Round matchups.

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We’re almost a week into the NBA’s bubble basketball experiment and it’s fair to say it has surpassed expectations so far. The viewing experience may be a bit strange for fans but the basketball has been played at playoff intensity for the duration.

In the Western Conference the race for the 8th seed has caught the attention with current occupants Memphis Grizzlies struggling in the opening week. Behind them the Portland Trail Blazers have recaptured some of their 2019 form with two important wins while the Phoenix Suns are undefeated so far in Orlando after close wins over the Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers. In contrast, the final seedings are all but wrapped up in the Eastern Conference with the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic taking the final two spots.

Now, lets take a look at the betting for this week’s games.

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The NBA makes a long-awaited return on Thursday night after almost five months without any action on an NBA court. Play was suspended on March 11th after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 and teams haven’t taken to the court since. Now, after plenty of negotiations, 22 teams will return to action at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Campus in Walt Disney World, Orlando.

Each team will play 8 regular season games before the top 16 enter the playoffs as usual. With that in mind, lets take a look at some of the best prop bets and outright bets for the remaining games.

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As we go through another week without much live sport, people are starting to turn their attention towards the reliable markets. One event we do know will go ahead is the NBA Draft. It’s due to take place in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn although they may yet follow the NFL with a ‘virtual’ draft at a later stage.

Much like the NFL Draft we have a three horse race at the top of the betting for October’s draft. At the time of writing Anthony Edwards (+120) leads the way followed by James Wiseman (+190) and LaMelo Ball (+200).

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We have now reached the final rounds of the much talked about NBA 2K Players Tournament. We’re now into the Championship Rounds with the Semi Finals and Final coming on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

The remaining four players come from two NBA franchises – the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns. The Suns’ DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker will face off against Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell respectively.

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The First Round of the NBA2K Players Tourney was a relative success last week. The results have corrected the early seedings going into the Quarter Finals and beyond and we now have a good idea who the top players will be.

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With no March Madness and the prospect of this season of the NBA being deemed null and void, it hasn’t been a good few weeks for basketball fans.

One bright spark among the bad news has been the announcement of the NBA 2K Players Tournament beginning this Friday. It sees 16 NBA players, including Finals MVP Kevin Durant and 4-time All-Star Demarcus Cousins, go head-to-head in an NBA 2K tournament. The games will be broadcast live in the United States on ESPN and they will also be streamed live across the world on the NBA and NBA 2K social media channels.

Who’s Playing?

16 players declared their interest in playing in the tournament with Durant being the most high-profile. The Brooklyn Nets forward has not played in the NBA regular season and this will technically be his first appearance in the Brooklyn jersey.

The players have been seeded by their in-game ranking and the first round draw is as follows;

• Kevin Durant (1) vs Derrick Jones Jr. (16)
• Trae Young (2) vs Harrison Barnes (15)
• Hassan Whiteside (3) vs Patrick Beverley (14)
• Donovan Mitchell (4) vs Rui Hachimura (13)
• Devin Booker (5) vs Michael Porter Jr. (12)
• Andre Drummond (6) vs DeMarcus Cousins (11)
• Zach LaVine (7) vs DeAndre Ayton (10)
• Montrezl Harrell (8) vs Domantas Sabonis (9)

The first round begins on Friday with the Quarter Finals on Tuesday and Semi Finals and Final played on Saturday 11th April.

NBA 2K Betting

There is no outright betting available for the Players Tournament but there is match betting available for the First Round games on CanPlay. Find the odds here.

So, who should you bet on? There’s a few notable gamers in the NBA and three of them are on show in this tournament. Trae Young and Zach LaVine have shown themselves to be good gamers in the past. However, the favourite for this tournament has to be young Phoenix Suns phenom Devin Booker. Booker has over 50,000 followers on gaming streaming service Twitch.

He is heavy favourite to beat Michael Porter Jr. on Friday. You can back Booker to win at -220 with CanPlay. He would be our pick to win the whole tournament outright.

Donovan Mitchell is another prominent NBA 2K player. The Utah Jazz guard has 12,500 followers on Twitch. You can back him to beat Rui Hachimura at -195 in the First Round this Friday.

NBA 2K Players Tournament Hype

There’s no doubt that these games will attract a big audience. Nascar trialled a similar tournament over the last few weeks that had an audience of nearly 1 million. Given the star power of the players playing in the tournament and they all around higher profile of the NBA and the NBA 2K game then there should be considerably higher viewing figures.

Keep up to date with all the latest betting info on CanPlay Sports.

 

March is always a strange time for NBA betting and our form last week showed just that. We came out on the wrong side of the result with all three of our picks (Portland, Denver and Utah) on the losing side.

The final full month of the regular season always brings about results that go against the formbook. The teams that have already secured their playoff spot start preparing (resting) ahead of their playoff run while the franchises that are already out of the playoff running start playing with no pressure.

This week, we have already seen the Knicks beat Houston at Madison Square Garden, the Charlotte Hornets beat the Toronto Raptors and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeat Miami Heat.

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With the end of the regular season looming larger on the horizon we have seen a number of games being played at ‘playoff intensity’ as teams make a final push for the post-season. A number of the league’s top players have put in big performances in the last week. Trae Young had his first 50-point game as the Hawks beat the Heat, Joel Embiid returned the favour with 49 points against the Hawks on Monday night while LeBron James and Anthony Davis paired up for 61 points as the Lakers overcame the Celtics in a thriller at the Staples Center.

Elsewhere in the league, the Bucks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with their 49th regular season win against the Washington Wizards. In that game, Bradley Beal became the first player since Kobe Bryant (in 2007) to score 50+ points in back-to-back games. He scored 53 in a defeat to the Chicago Bulls on the previous night.

Let’s see what this week has in store for NBA fans.

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The NBA regular season returns for the final 30 games after an eventful All-Star break. On Saturday night, the Miami duo of Derrick Jones Jr. and Bam Adebayo came away with Dunk Contest and Skills Challenge gongs while Sacramento’s Buddy Hield won the 3-Point Contest in exciting fashion.

After a week off for the rest of the league, it’s back to business as teams make a final push for the playoff spots.

Let’s see if we can continue our good run of picks after going three from three last week.

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With only two nights of action remaining before the All-Star break, a clear picture is emerging of the final playoff standings.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers still lead the way in their respective conferences. Milwaukee have been dominant this season and Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to win his second MVP award in a row. Mike Budenholzer’s team are on course to be only the third team to win over 70 games in a NBA regular season.

They face the Pacers on Wednesday night in their last game before the break.

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With teams just hitting the half-century mark in terms of games played this season, the playoff picture is becoming much clearer.

In the West, only five games separates 2nd placed Clippers and the 7th placed Oklahoma City Thunder. In the Eastern Conference, five games separates the Raptors in 2nd and the 76ers in 6th. Top seed looks like a foregone conclusion in both conferences – Milwaukee leads the East with a 43-7 record while the Lakers are out in front in the West with a 38-11 record.

Here’s some tips for this week’s big games.

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Their is a sombre mood around the NBA after the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others in a helicopter crash on Sunday morning. Wednesday night’s clash between the Lakers and Clippers at the Staples Center has been postponed out of respect.

However, the games continue around the league with a number of teams in action over the next few nights. With the NBA All-Star break now just two weeks away, teams are jostling for position to establish themselves as playoff contenders.

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Most NBA teams have now reached the halfway point of the season. The Milwaukee Bucks lead the league with a 36-6 record while LeBron James and the Lakers are top of the Western Conference with a 33-7 record.

Those two franchises are the runaway leaders at the top of the league but the playoff picture is still fairly compact. There is a couple of games taking place this week that will have a big impact on the final standings.

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As we approach the halfway mark of the NBA regular season, two teams have laid down a marker for the rest of the league to follow. The Los Angeles Lakers lead the Western Conference with a 29-7 record while the Milwaukee Bucks have the best record in the East at 32-5. Unsurprisingly, both franchises lead the way in the betting for the Larry O’Brien trophy too. You can back the Lakers, Bucks and Kawhi Leonard’s Clippers at +320 with CanPlay.

There are some great games on the slate this week – lets have a look.

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With the Christmas Day fixtures only one week away, two teams have really asserted their dominance in the NBA.

The Los Angeles Lakers lead the Western Conference with a 24-4 record while Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks lead the Eastern Conference with a matching record. The two teams play each other in a highly anticipated match on Thursday night.

The Dallas Mavericks have continued their strong start to the season without injured star Luka Doncic. They ended the Bucks’ 18-game win streak on Monday night with Kristaps Porzingis and Seth Curry carrying the scoring burden.

Things are tightly packed in the Eastern Conference too. The Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers all sit within one win of each other at the top of the East standings.

Lets take a look ahead to this week’s games.

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The past week of the NBA season has brought around plenty of controversy.

The fallout from James Harden’s dunk against the Spurs has continued. The Bucks have stretched their win streak to 15 games and lead the Eastern Conference. The Sacramento Kings recorded a ‘deserved’ victory over the Houston Rockets thanks to Nemanja Bielica’s last-gasp three and Luka Doncic broke one of Michael Jordan’s most famous records.

As for our tips, the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks delivered once again while Toronto suffered an unexpected loss to the Houston Rockets.

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Thanksgiving Week brought around a few surprises in the NBA. James Harden hit 60 points in three quarters in the Houston Rockets 158-111 win over the Hawks, the Mavericks broke the Lakers’ 10 game winning streak and the Milwaukee Bucks have stretched their unbeaten run to 12.

There’s plenty to look forward to in the week ahead too. Read on for tips and predictions for three of this weeks’ big games.

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