NBA postseason guide: Schedule, stories, betting odds, how to watch and more

A reminder: This is just the warm-up act before the NBA playoffs begin.

The play-in tournament — remember when people thought it wouldn't work? — takes a day off Thursday, which seems well-earned after the events of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Among what we've seen from just the first two days of the NBA postseason:

— Charlotte's LaMelo Ball should have been ejected, the NBA said, for his role in the play that knocked Miami's Bam Adebayo out of the Heat-Hornets play-in elimination game. Ball beat the Heat with a layup late in overtime, then swore in an on-court postgame interview, then struck his team's own mascot.

— Golden State rallied from 13 points down with 10 minutes left to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in an elimination game. Golden State moves on to play Phoenix on Friday in a game that'll decide the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. It was the Warriors' biggest fourth-quarter comeback to win a road postseason game since 2015.

— Oklahoma City got another lottery pick because of the Clippers' loss. The Thunder will have at least a 7% chance of moving into a top-four draft spot this year. The pick conveys as part of the trade that sent Paul George from the Thunder to the Clippers; George left LA for Philadelphia in 2024.

— Orlando's Franz Wagner — who has had an injury-riddled season — was shaken up late in his team's play-in loss to Philadelphia after his knee was collided into by teammate Wendell Carter Jr. After the game, Wagner indicated to reporters that he'll be fine.

— Portland became the third team in play-in tournament history to rally from more than 10 points down in the fourth quarter to win a game. It got the Blazers — a team that started the season by seeing coach Chauncey Billups leave because of federal gambling charges — into the playoffs. The Trail Blazers now have a first-round matchup with Victor Wembanyama and the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs.

Thursday is an off day. On Friday, two elimination games: Charlotte at Orlando (to decide who'll face Detroit) and Golden State at Phoenix (to decide who'll face Oklahoma City). The winners go to the playoffs. The losers go home.

Stories of note

— Joel Embiid gives Philly an emotional lift

— Edwards talks about how he wants to lead

— The Celtics have everybody ready to go

— Heat furious over how Adebayo got injured

— Amazon Prime has late ‘technical difficulties’

— Doncic, Reaves still out indefinitely, Lakers say

— Thunder hope comforts of home help repeat quest

— Heat equipment manager needs organ transplants

— Natalie Sago the 3rd female ref picked for playoffs

— All eyes on Giannis' future ... after Doc steps down

— The view from Vegas says the West is the best

Friday's schedule

7:30 p.m. EDT — Charlotte at Orlando (Prime Video)

10 p.m. EDT — Golden State at Phoenix (Prime Video)

Saturday's schedule

1 p.m. EDT — Game 1, Toronto at Cleveland (Prime Video)

3:30 p.m. EDT — Game 1, Minnesota at Denver (Prime Video)

6 p.m. — Game 1, Atlanta at New York (Prime Video)

8:30 p.m. — Game 1, Houston at LA Lakers (ABC)

Sunday’s games

1 p.m. EDT — Game 1, Philadelphia at Boston (ABC)

3:30 p.m. EDT — Game 1, Golden State-Phoenix winner at Oklahoma City (ABC)

6:30 p.m. EDT — Game 1, Charlotte-Orlando winner at Detroit (NBC/Peacock)

9 p.m. EDT — Game 1, Portland at San Antonio (NBC/Peacock)

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (+120) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+450), Boston (+550), Denver (+1000), Cleveland (+1600) and New York (+2000).

Detroit, the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2000. After that, nobody has better odds than Houston (+6600).

The Los Angeles Lakers were +2500 before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt; they’re +20000 now.

Key dates

— Friday: NBA play-in tournament finales.

— Saturday and Sunday: NBA playoff series openers.

— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

This is why there are alternates

Referee Ben Taylor, considered one of the NBA's best officials, left the Clippers-Warriors game on Wednesday night after suffering some sort of injury.

Ordinarily, that would mean the game would finish with two referees. But in the playoffs, the NBA always has an alternate ready on-site for this specific purpose.

Sean Corbin filled in for Taylor the rest of the way, joining James Williams and Karl Lane to finish the game.

Numbers watch

— If Phoenix loses Friday, there will be a record four teams with winning records who don't make the playoffs (Miami, the LA Clippers, and the Orlando-Charlotte loser will also be in that group.) There were three over-.500 teams that didn't qualify in both 1971 and 2022.

— If Golden State wins Friday, not only would it knock the Suns out, but it would become the seventh team in the last 30 seasons to get into the playoffs with a 37-45 record or worse. (Miami 2025, New Orleans 2022, Indiana 2011, Atlanta 2008, Boston 2004 and the LA Clippers in 1997 are the others.)

Stats of the day

— The Clippers were 165-3 in their last 168 home games in which they led by at least 13 points in the fourth quarter, including postseason, before Wednesday night. The Clippers were outscored 41-23 in the final 9:50 on Wednesday, despite shooting 53% from the floor, a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line and committing only four turnovers in that span.

— The issue there for the Clippers was Golden State just didn't miss. The Warriors were 14-for-18 in that game-ending run, 8-for-10 from 3-point range — and Al Horford made four 3-pointers in a quarter for only the fifth time in his career (and second this season).

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba