Expert NBA GAME Previews

Game 2 of this Eastern Conference first-round series stays in Cleveland on Monday night, with tipoff set for 7:00 PM at Rocket Arena and the Cavaliers trying to turn their 1-0 series lead into real control before the matchup shifts north. Cleveland took the opener 126-113, and it looked like the cleaner, steadier team once the game settled in. Toronto

Game 2 in this Eastern Conference first-round series stays at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, with tipoff set for 8:00 PM and the Knicks trying to build on their 1-0 series lead after a 113-102 win in the opener. Atlanta enters off a 46-36 regular season that was better than it looked at midyear, while New York finished 53-29

Game 2 shifts right back to Ball Arena on Monday night, with tip-off set for 10:30 PM ET and Denver trying to push this first-round series to 2-0 after a 116-105 win in the opener. Minnesota comes in at 49-33 after finishing sixth in the West, while Denver closed the regular season 54-28 and held serve in Game 1 behind

Toronto opens this first-round matchup on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Rocket Arena, and the market is not being subtle about how it sees Game 1. Cleveland is laying 8.0 points at home, the Cavaliers are sitting at -355 on the moneyline, Toronto comes back at +277, and the total is set at 219.5. That is a real playoff number.

Minnesota opens its first-round series on the road Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Ball Arena, and the market is giving Denver real respect right out of the gate. The Nuggets are laying 6.5 points at home, which is not a small playoff opener number against a team with this much size and defensive talent. It says the market trusts Denver’s

Atlanta opens this first-round matchup on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Madison Square Garden, and the betting market is making a pretty clear statement right away. New York is laying 5.5 points at home, the Knicks moneyline sits at -218, the Hawks come back at +179, and the total is parked at 217. That number tells you a few things

Houston heads to Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, April 18, 2026 for a playoff matchup that feels a little strange when you first look at the number. The Rockets are the road favorite at -5.0, the moneyline sits at Houston -212 and Los Angeles +174, and the total is all the way down at 207.5. That alone tells you what the

Charlotte heads to Orlando on Friday night for a win-and-in Play-In Tournament game at Kia Center, with tipoff set for 7:30 PM ET on Prime Video. The Hornets closed the regular season 44-38 and grabbed the East’s No. 9 spot, while Orlando finished 45-37 and landed at No. 8. The winner gets the final playoff berth in the conference and

Golden State heads to Phoenix for a single-elimination Play-In Tournament game on Friday night, with tipoff set for 10:00 PM ET at Mortgage Matchup Center. The Warriors enter as the No. 10 seed at 37-45 after surviving the Clippers on Wednesday, while the Suns finished 45-37 and now get a home floor shot after falling to Portland in the 7-8