Even after the long regular season of NBA basketball, things are far from done. Things are in fact just warming up at that point as the campaign heads into the postseason, which is the knockout stage of the season. Qualified teams battle it out, with the winner of each series moving through to the next round. The ultimate goal is to reach the NBA Finals and be in with a shot at being crowned champions.
The top six teams from both conferences automatically book a place in the NBA playoffs, leaving four further spots open. Those are decided by a play-in tournament. The teams that are seventh and eighth in a conference play a one-off match to take the seventh qualification spot from that conference.
The loser of that playoff match then faces the winner of a match between the ninth and tenth-placed finishers to see who gets the last spot in the NBA playoffs from the conference. In total, sixteen teams feature in the NBA odds for the playoff.
With each tie being a best-of-seven series, there is a lot of post-season basketball to be played. Teams stay separated in the bracket by their conference, and the only time that changes is when the Eastern Conference champions meet the Western Conference champions in the NBA Finals.
Teams are also seeded in the bracket, arranged by their finishing positions in the regular season standings. For NBA playoff odds, the Series Winner and the Series Correct Score markets provide just some of the popular NBA basketball betting options available.
Following the playoffs, the NBA Championship odds then focus on the final match-up of the season to decide who wins the title. The NBA Finals is the showcase event, and again, this is a best-of-seven series and it is one of the biggest events in world basketball.
No team has been to more NBA Finals than the Los Angeles Lakers, but at the close of the 2022/23 NBA season, they were the joint all-time most successful franchise alongside the Boston Celtics with 17 titles each. No other franchise in the history of the NBA has reached double-figures in titles.
The market for the NBA Championship odds opens pre-season and remains active right throughout the season as teams fight for position, and it is the most popular NBA betting market going.
The Boston Celtics are among the front-runners in 2024 NBA Playoff odds, with the Milwaukee Bucks leading the challenge behind them. Both are from the stronger Eastern Conference, with the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers projected to be among the leading players from the Western Conference.
The 2024 NBA Playoffs start on April 20th, with the Conference Semifinals in early May, and the Conference Finals are expected to begin on May 21st. The 2024 NBA Finals will start on June 7th.