NBA Play-In Tournament: Betting Trends, Title Odds of Contenders

With the top six teams in each conference guaranteed a first-round playoff series, the Play-In-Tournament determines the No. 7 and No. 8 spots, with the teams seeded seventh through 10 taking part in the tournament. The winner between the seventh and eighth-seeded teams will earn the No. 7 spot, with the loser playing the winner between the No. 9 and No. 10 game to determine who will receive the No. 8 playoff spot in each conference. 

In the Eastern Conference, the No. 7 Miami Heat face the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks, while the No. 9 Toronto Raptors play the No. 10 Chicago Bulls. 

The Western Conference features the No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers and No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves and No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans and No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder. 

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NBA Play-In Tournament History

So far, it’s been good to be the No. 7 seed. Seventh seeds are 4-0 in the NBA Play-In Tournament, meaning they’ve always ended up with the No. 7 spot in the playoffs. This bodes well for the Lakers and Heat. 

History has not been on the side of the No. 8 seeds, which have gone just 1-7 in the Play-In. In addition to losing all four matchups to the No. 7 team, they’ve gone just 1-3 when it came to competing for the final playoff spot. The only eight-seed to win a game in the playoffs has been the 2021 Washington Wizards when they topped the Indiana Pacers 142-115 to advance to the postseason. 

The 10th seeds are also 0-4, while the No. 9 teams are 7-1. 

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Unders Common in Play-In

Under the current format of the NBA Play-In Tournament, under have hit in nine of the 11 games, including all six in last year’s tournament alone. 

Plus, one of the overs that hit came because of overtime when the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Golden State Warriors 117-112. The teams combined for 13 points in the extra session to hit the over on the 220.5 total. 

Futures Odds for NBA Play-In Teams

Of the teams competing in the NBA Play-In Tournament, the Lakers have the best futures odds to win the title. At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Lakers are +2200 to win it all, which are the seventh-best odds to claim the championship. 

By comparison, the other teams in the tournament are long shots. The Heat is at +21000, followed by the Hawks (+25000), Raptors (+25000), Timberwolves (+25000), Thunder (+50000), Bulls (+50000) and Pelicans (+50000).