Sportsbooks and analysts open second‑round lines favoring Pistons and Nets

The second round picture got a lot clearer on Monday night and early Tuesday — not because every series started, but because the market finally had all eight teams locked in. New York already punched first, flattening Philadelphia 137-98 in Game 1. Detroit and Oklahoma City opened their series Tuesday as betting favorites, and San Antonio still looks like the stronger side in the one West matchup that already got weird. ### What’s the actual bracket now? It’s Knicks vs. 76ers and Pistons vs. Cavaliers in the East, with Timberwolves vs. Spurs and Thunder vs. Lakers in the West. New York and Minnesota already grabbed Game 1 on Monday, while Pistons-Cavaliers and Thunder-Lakers opened Tuesday, May 5. CBS had the first four games in each series slotted, with Knicks-76ers Game 2 on May 6 and Pistons-Cavaliers Game 2 on May 7. ### Why are the Pistons getting so much respect? Because Detroit is the No. 1 seed, survived a 3-1 scare against Orlando, and still came out of Round 1 looking like the sturdier team. The betting market opened Pistons-Cavaliers with Detroit around -120 to -125 for the series and roughly -3.5 for Game 1. That is not a huge edge, but it is a real one — basically the books are saying this is close, just not truly even. ### What’s driving that Detroit case? Cade Cunningham is the center of it. Fox highlighted his first-round line at 32.4 points and 7.1 assists per game, with monster scoring nights of 45, 39, and two 32-point games. Cleveland got through Toronto, but Detroit’s top-end creator is the kind of playoff problem that bends a whole series. ESPN’s panel leaned Pistons too, with five of seven experts taking Detroit. ### Wait — why does the headline say Nets? It looks wrong. The live second-round bracket has the Knicks, 76ers, Pistons, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Spurs, Thunder, and Lakers. Brooklyn is not in this round at all. So the real East story is Pistons and Knicks — not Pistons and Nets. New York blasted Philadelphia by 39, with Jalen Brunson scoring 35 on 12-for-18 shooting, and Fox showed the series price around Knicks -450 with the 76ers at +350 after that opener. That’s a massive shift in tone, even if not everyone buying the series thinks Philly is dead. ### So why is Knicks-76ers still the messy one? Because analysts are much less settled than the odds now suggest. CBS called it the most marquee East matchup and showed a split panel — four experts on the Knicks, three on the 76ers. The argument for Philly is simple: if Joel Embiid is healthy enough and Paul George keeps giving them real two-way juice, the seed line undersells them. The catch is that “if.” ### What about the West? The market is much harsher there. Oklahoma City opened as a huge favorite over the Lakers — Fox had the Thunder at -1600 for the series, with a 4-0 regular-season sweep over L.A. already in the background. The Spurs were also framed as one of the stronger second-round teams before Minnesota stole Game 1, even with Victor Wembanyama piling up a record-setting 12 blocks in a loss. ### Bottom line? The clean version is this: the second round opened with Detroit and New York favored in the East, and Oklahoma City looking like the West’s hammer. But the most interesting part is that the odds and the expert panels do not line up perfectly — especially in Knicks-76ers — which usually means the series everyone thinks they understand is the one most likely to turn.