Category: Basketball

ESPN Betting Experts

Dec 4, 2023, 02:08 PM ETOpen Extended Reactions

It’s going to be a fun week.

The NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament has reached the knockout rounds (to be played Monday and Tuesday), with four teams from each conference vying for the right to advance to the semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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The winners of those semifinals games then advance to the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 9.

Here’s a look at the complete bracket.

From a betting standpoint, there is lots to consider, so we’ve gathered our experts together to highlight the teams and players to bet on during this special week on the NBA calendar.

Odds aside, which team do you think has the clearest path to the championship?

Boston Celtics: The Celtics are likely the most popular answer for this given there is a very real chance that they face the league’s second-worst defense (Pacers) and

USATSI

The 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament is a first-of-its-kind event for the NBA designed to add more excitement to the regular season and group play provided some thrilling matchups. Now the tournament will advance to the knockout rounds, with eight teams competing in a single-elimination tournament for the first NBA In-Season Tournament title. The East side of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket will include the Bucks, Pacers, Celtics and Knicks while the West will feature the Lakers, Kings, Pelicans and Suns. The quarterfinals take place on Monday and Tuesday with the higher seed hosting each matchup while the semifinals and finals take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 9.

Boston is the +300 favorite (risk $100 to win $300) in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament odds, followed by Milwaukee (+340), Los Angeles

Victor Wembanyama has been ruled out of San Antonio’s game against New Orleans on Friday (8 p.m. ET) because of right hip tightness.

It will be the first game the No. 1 overall 2023 draft pick will miss in his brief NBA career. He averaged 19.3 points and 9.7 rebounds through the first 18 games of the season for San Antonio, which entered Friday with a 3-15 record.

Wembanyama played through the hip issue on Thursday, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in 29 minutes of San Antonio’s 137-135 loss to Atlanta.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after that game that not playing Wembanyama in the second half of a back-to-back was a possibility.

“We’re trying to protect him,” Popovich said Thursday.

Giving Wembanyama the Friday game off will mean he will get nearly a week of rest, at minimum. Because of the break provided by the knockout round that starts Monday in the In-Season Tournament, the earliest Wembanyama would play again is Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET) at Minnesota.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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