NBA Playoff Teams on the Rebound: Kings, Knicks, Clippers, and Lakers Bounce Back

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Sacramento Kings broke the longest active postseason drought in North American sports. It had been 16 long losing seasons. We have to go all the way back to the days of Mike Bibby and Peja Stojaković for the last time Sactown was playoff bound.

The Kings aren’t just in. They won what was arguably the deepest division, besting the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers. One of only two divisions where every team has a winning record. No other division has more than two such clubs.

At 48-32, Sacramento probably won’t catch Memphis for second but is locked into no worse than the three seed in the Western Conference.

Despite their success, the betting market doesn’t believe. The Kings are +2400 to win the Western Conference, with the seventh-shortest odds. They’re behind the Suns, Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers! At least one of those teams will have to earn their way through the play-in tournament.

The disrespect.

The odds also make Sacramento the 11th most-likely team to win the NBA Championship (+6500).

I’m not going out and buying futures on the Kings, but maybe we shouldn’t write off De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis before we see what they can do under playoff pressure.

The Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a four-year streak of missing the postseason, which came on the heels of four-straight trips to the NBA Finals, as they are set to make their first appearance in the post-LeBron James era. 

Fourth in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs have locked up homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Their conference title odds (+1700) align with their spot in the standings, fourth. Cleveland is tenth on the NBA Championship odds totem pole (+4200), just ahead of Sacramento. 

Cleveland is well behind the big three of Milwaukee, Boston, and Philadelphia but solidly ahead of the rest of the pack in the East.

The Cavs made a big jump last season when they doubled their win total from 22 to 44. The addition of Donovan Mitchell has put them over the top, and this is their first 50-win season without LeBron since 1992-93. 

Checking in at fifth in the Eastern Conference are the New York Knicks, the third team to have clinched a playoff berth after missing the postseason in 2021-22. For the ‘Bockers, it was just a one-year hiatus. However, they’re making just their second postseason of the past decade.

I guess you can say not winning the Mitchell sweepstakes wasn’t crushing. Free agent addition Jalen Brunson is one of the NBA’s most improved players and, along with Julius Randle, has led New York to 47 wins with two games remaining, their second-most Ws since 2001.

As the fifth seed, the Knicks are +3600 to win the East, the fifth-shortest odds. They are 12th in their NBA Championship odds (+10000), one slot behind the Kings.

With the first-round matchup between New York and Cleveland set, the odds are out with the Cavs a convincing -198 favorite and the Knicks +166 to pull off the upset.

Back to the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers are non-playoff teams from a year ago competing for the final two top-six slots. The Clips took a big step toward that end with their win over the Lakers last night, which means LeBron & Company will likely have to go through the play-in tournament (-480).

The tenth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder are in the mix for a play-in tournament spot (-210). If they advance beyond the tourney, it could mean four new postseason teams in the West, which would be more year-to-year turnover than we usually see.