Best Bets and Underdog Picks for First Round of 2020 NBA Playoffs

• The NBA playoffs finally get underway on Monday, August 17th 2020
• It’s a feast of basketball in the first round, with four games being played every day until teams are eliminated
• Looking at the best underdog bets, find the odds and betting discussion for three of the playoff series below

It’s been a long wait for the NBA playoffs. As the first round has approached, there has been movement in the NBA championship odds, and injury news has been more important than ever before. The majority of the eight series are well-balanced. This is a different postseason in so many ways, but early signs from the bubble suggest the standard of basketball will be very high.

No team has glaringly long odds in the Western Conference. The Sixers and Pacers, both underdogs, are certainly in with a chance in their series.

Which teams are the best underdog bets for the NBA playoffs? This hopes to answer that very question.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets Series Odds

All odds taken August 17th

There is so much to be excited about here. Chris Paul and James Harden are up against each other. Two teams who play contrasting styles matchup and Russell Westbrook, if he returns from a quad issue, will face his former team.

It has already been a great season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the Rockets hold loftier aspirations. A first-round exit could see big changes in Houston once again.

In the absence of Westbrook, Harden carries an even greater offensive burden. It is, of course, not an alien situation for the former MVP, but the Rockets are short of playmaking away from their two superstars. Harden can grind out some wins alone, though he needs Westbrook back and firing sooner rather than later if they are to go on a deep run.

The non-Harden, non-Westbrook minutes are a concern for Mike D’Antoni. The longer Westbrook is sidelined, the more Harden will play, and the more fatigue becomes an issue again.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been great this season. They crucially have Dennis Schroeder available after he left the bubble for the birth of his child. Their three-guard line-up will get a lot of minutes in this matchup, and for that reason this is a decent series for them, particularly with the option to play Danilo Gallinari at center and go small.

The Thunder have been great in clutch minutes – Chris Paul will need to replicate that magic if they are to win this series. The turnover battle is important here, too. Houston’s defense is based on forcing turnovers, and OKC are one of the best in the league at looking after the ball.

Indiana Pacers vs Miami Heat Series Odds

For devout followers of the T.J. Warren and Jimmy Butler rivalry, this is an especially tantalizing series. Warren comes in as one of the best players in the bubble so far, but he struggled in their seeding game against Butler’s Heat. This should be a more evenly matched series than the odds suggest despite Domantas Sabonis and Jeremy Lamb being sidelined for Indiana.

Nate McMillan continues to make the Pacers into a strong team despite changes to the roster and injuries. Victor Oladipo is back, though still far from his best, and Sabonis has been out, but Indiana have depth to compensate. Malcolm Brogdon, Warren and Oladipo provide sufficient scoring and Myles Turner is a more than solid center in today’s NBA. Aaron Holiday has become an important player for them.

McMillan’s offense has been criticized for being old-fashioned at times. Their reluctance to shoot the three is a worry against a Heat team which shoots and makes plenty. Oladipo, Brogdon and Holiday will need to hustle constantly on defense with Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro’s smart off-ball movement. These are two teams who play at a slow pace – the unders could be good value.

Neither of these teams are favorites in the NBA championship odds, but they could both give Milwaukee, Toronto or Boston a tough series. The Pacers are so often overlooked amid the big-market excitement in the East. Quietly, they have the sixth-best defense in the league this season, and they’ve got enough offensive talent to take this series deep.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics Series Odds

Injuries might have deprived us of the great series this could have been in their storied rivalry. Ben Simmons is unavailable and Joel Embiid picked up an apparently minor ankle knock in the seeding games. Once again, health hampers the Sixers’ progress.

What could have been a blockbuster series suddenly has the potential to be very one-sided, with the Sixers short on playmaking and lacking an obvious defensive option to put on Jayson Tatum.

It has quickly progressed towards NBA cliche to say this series is all about Embiid, but it’s the truth. The Sixers need Embiid at his absolute best if they are able to compete with Boston, and they need him to string together playoff performances in a way he hasn’t in his career to date. The effort must be consistent, and perhaps more importantly, he must remain healthy.

Philly went 3-1 in the season series and Embiid had mixed fortunes. He dominated one of the games and struggled in others. The Sixers need to feed him in the post, because Boston have no one that can guard him there.

There’s no question that Boston has more talent than the Sixers without Simmons. The loss of Simmons gives them some defensive dilemmas against the Celtics’ array of wings. It’s a series that will ask a lot of Tobias Harris – this is where he can justify the enormous contract the Sixers handed him.

Backing the Sixers to win the series is a vote of confidence in Embiid’s consistency to be the player so many know he can be. The spread certainly looks tempting.