Play‑In odds and picks

The 2026 National Basketball Association play-in is now a betting market and a prediction contest, with Phoenix and Charlotte opening as favorites in Tuesday’s win-or-go-home games. (sports.yahoo.com) Yahoo Sports, citing BetMGM odds published April 15, listed the Charlotte Hornets as 5.5-point favorites over the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns as 2.5-point favorites over the Portland Trail Blazers. The National Basketball Association’s official schedule says the play-in runs April 14 through April 17, with the first round starting April 18. (sports.yahoo.com) (nba.com) The Wednesday games are the East No. 7 versus No. 8 matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic, and the West No. 9 versus No. 10 elimination game with the Golden State Warriors facing the Los Angeles Clippers. ESPN said its panel also made first-round picks for every series already locked in. (espn.com) (nba.com) The play-in uses a four-team bracket in each conference: the No. 7 seed hosts No. 8 for the right to become the playoff No. 7, while No. 9 hosts No. 10 in an elimination game. The loser of 7-versus-8 then hosts the winner of 9-versus-10 for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) That format leaves four playoff spots unresolved even after the regular season ends, so sportsbooks can post only the first-round series that already have both teams set. Yahoo Sports said known series prices included New York Knicks minus-300 against the Atlanta Hawks, while other brackets still listed “to be determined” opponents. (sports.yahoo.com) The full 20-team postseason field is set, but the final four seeds are not. National Basketball Association and CBS Sports bracket pages listed Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Toronto and Atlanta as the East’s top six, and Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver, Los Angeles, Houston and Minnesota as the West’s top six. (nba.com) (cbssports.com) That left Philadelphia, Orlando, Charlotte and Miami in the East play-in, and Phoenix, Portland, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State in the West play-in. The Warriors’ appearance as the West’s No. 10 seed is one of the bracket’s bigger surprises, while Charlotte reached the East play-in after missing the postseason field a year earlier. (cbssports.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Analyst picks were not unanimous. ESPN said its experts projected the teams that would survive the play-in and advance into the main bracket, while USA Today published staff game-by-game picks and odds ahead of Tuesday and Wednesday’s matchups. (espn.com) (usatoday.com) The short version is that the postseason started on April 14, but the bracket will not be complete until Friday night. By Saturday, the market guesses and staff ballots will give way to four best-of-seven first-round series in each conference. (nba.com)