The NBA play-in tournament is set to kick off tomorrow night with the Cleveland Cavaliers visiting the Brooklyn Nets, followed up on Wednesday by the Charlotte Hornets visiting the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference.
Below we check in on some of the matchups that could take place depending on which teams win their first game of the tournament.
Eastern Conference Play-In Games 1 & 2#8 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #7 Brooklyn Nets
Tuesday, 4/12 | 7:00 PM | TNT
The Nets are 8.5 point favorites on the FanDuel Sportsbook against the Cavaliers and the expectation is that they will win this contest and advance to take on the second seed in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics in what could be a first-round series for the ages.
#10 Charlotte Hornets vs. #9 Atlanta Hawks
Wednesday, 4/13 | 7:00 PM | ESPN
The Hawks are 4.5 point home favorites over the Hornets in this matchup and the winner will take on whoever loses in the Cavaliers and Nets game, while the loser goes home.
Potential Eastern Conference MatchupsAtlanta Hawks @ Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets @ Brooklyn Nets -165
Atlanta Hawks @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Charlotte Hornets @ Cleveland Cavaliers
It’s hard to see the Nets not advancing in their matchup against the Cavaliers, but you can realistically make the case that any of the other three remaining teams could enter the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Whoever wins that final seed will have their hands full in round one as they will visit the Miami Heat.
Advance From Play-In Tournament Odds – EastOn the FanDuel Sportsbook, there are plenty of things to consider for the play-in tournament.
You can look at which four teams will advance and try to correctly pick all four, or you can also try and select both winners from the Eastern Conferences separately.
The Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Los Angeles Clippers boast the best odds to all advance at +130.
If you break down the conferences separately, the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers have the highest odds to advance in the East at -165. The Hawks and Nets combined might be worth a flyer, as it’s hard to count out Trae Young. Those two teams sit at +280 to move on.
Cleveland Cavaliers & Brooklyn Nets -165
Atlanta Hawks & Brooklyn Nets +280
Charlotte Hornets & Brooklyn Nets +600
Atlanta Hawks & Cleveland Cavaliers +1100
Charlotte Hornets & Cleveland Cavaliers +2900
All NBA odds are brought to you by FanDuel.
