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2026 NBA playoffs second-round odds: Pistons, Knicks favored in tight Eastern Conference series

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The New York Knicks are turning into a wagon and the Minnesota Timberwolves keep winning no matter who is on the court. The Knicks had another blowout win on Monday and Minnesota opened its series in San Antonio with a close win on the road (and the return of Anthony Edwards).

On Tuesday, NBA title favorite Oklahoma City starts its series against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers battle for Midwestern supremacy.

This story will be updated throughout the second round as the odds change with the results for every game.

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers

Game 1: 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday

Series odds: Pistons -120, Cavaliers +100

Both teams enter this series after surviving Game 7s at home. The Pistons came back from 3-1 down to Orlando (and 24 points down in Game 6 while facing elimination) to avoid the embarrassment of losing as a No. 1 seed. The Cavaliers came back from 10 points down in the first half to get past Toronto in Game 7.

The Pistons have not gotten a lot of respect in the betting market despite being the top seed in the conference, but they are slight favorites to win this series. The first round didn’t do much to add confidence in Detroit, but it’s not like Cleveland looked like world-beaters either. At least the Cavs won every home game against the Raptors.

Detroit’s Cade Cunningham averaged 5.9 turnovers per game against the Magic, which was the most of anyone in the first round. He also averaged 32.4 points per game. For the most part, Cunningham didn’t get much help until Tobias Harris dropped 30 points in Game 7. Cunningham won’t be able to beat Cleveland by himself.

The James Harden experiment in Cleveland showed mixed results in the first round. Harden averaged 20.6 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 5.1 turnovers in the first round. He gives Donovan Mitchell some much-needed help in scoring and creation, but the Cavs might need even more to get past Detroit.

No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers

Knicks lead series 1-0

Game 2: 7 p.m. ET, Wednesday

Series odds: Knicks -450, 76ers +350

Are the Knicks just world-beaters now? New York followed up the 51-point win against Atlanta that closed out that series with a 39-point win against Philadelphia to open this one.

The Knicks couldn’t miss. They shot 63 percent from the field and 51 percent (19-for-37) from 3-point range. New York had 74 points by halftime. Jalen Brunson had 35 points in 31 minutes.

There are a lot of ways to say the Knicks were good on Monday.

Joel Embiid, meanwhile, was just 3-for-11 from the field and Tyrese Maxey had just 13 points.

This series probably won’t go this way the whole way through, but the Knicks haven’t had a competitive game in a week and a half.

Western Conference

No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers

Game 1: 8:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday

Series odds: Thunder -1600, Lakers +900

The Thunder were the only team to pull off a sweep in the first round and are getting near even-money odds (+120) to sweep the Lakers as well.

Just over a month ago, this series would’ve been a blockbuster. Luka Dončić was entering the MVP discussion, Austin Reaves was proving to be a consistent scorer and LeBron James was still LeBron James. However, Dončić has been out since April 2. The Lakers survived the also-shorthanded Houston Rockets in the first round without Dončić and with Reaves only playing two games.

Getting Reaves back helps, but in order to compete with, let alone beat, Oklahoma City, the Lakers will need Dončić. He could return this series, but it doesn’t sound like it will be soon.

As long as Dončić is out, the odds are going to be lopsided in the Thunder’s favor. OKC is favored by a whopping 15.5 points for Game 1.

No. 2 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves

Timberwolves lead series 1-0

Game 2: 9:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday

Series odds: Spurs -1200, Timberwolves +160

Several hours before Game 1 started, the Spurs were heavily favored to advance and a Western Conference final with Oklahoma City seemed nearly inevitable. Then, Anthony Edwards decided to suit up and come back from injury. Now, Minnesota has a 1-0 series lead.

The Spurs are still favored to win the series after dropping Game 1 at home 104-102, but the odds moved from -1200 to -190. Minnesota was 7-to-1 advance and is now +160.

Edwards scored 18 points in 25 minutes so there should be more to come as his minutes load increases. The Timberwolves were without Ayo Dosunmu, who sat out Game 6 against Denver with a calf injury.

It’s not a great sign for the Spurs that they lost at home and Minnesota had a minute-limit on Edwards and Dosunmu could return at some point this series. That said, while Victor Wembanyama had 12 blocks, he was 0-for-8 from 3-point range. He and De’Aaron Fox both had off shooting nights and Julian Champagnie still had a really good open look at a 3-pointer to win the game at the buzzer.

A sweep seemed possible going into the series. Now, it looks like this could be a good one.

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York Valkyrie hold out to beat Wigan Warriors 8-6 and win the Women’s Super League Grand Final at Brick Community Stadium | Rugby League News

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York Valkyrie won the Women’s Super League Grand Final, beating Wigan Warriors 8-6.

It was York’s third title after previous victories in 2023 and 2024.

Early on in this year’s final at the Brick Community Stadium, Sinead Peach went over to score the opening try, with Ellie Williamson providing the conversion.

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Wigan Warrior’s Eva Hunter was sent to the sin bin after this challenge but was she lucky not to see red?

Wigan came back to level the game in the first half as Jenna Foubister put Mia-Jayne Atherton through to score the try and Isabel Rowe converted.

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York Valkyrie beat Wigan Warriors in Grand Final to lift Super League title for third time.

Atherton was sent to the sin bin as was Wigan’s Eva Hunter. The latter was fortunate to evade a red card for a dangerous tackle. She was sin-binned and Williamson landed the decisive kick to put York ahead.

Wigan launched attack after attack in the second half but, in a superb defensive effort, York held out, with player of the match, teenager Amelie Lenham, standing out with try-saving tackles.

Afterwards as York celebrated becoming the first team to win the Women’s Super League three times, the fiancé of Lisa Parker, who’d played with a broken hand, proposed to her, capping off a fairy-tale evening.

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York’s Lisa Parker was proposed to after winning the Women’s Super League Grand Final.

Who will win the Betfred Super League Grand Final? Watch the Super League’s showpiece event live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ on Saturday, October 3 from 5pm. Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free on NOW

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Nations League: Bruno Fernandes, Cody Gakpo and Patrick Dorgu injured on international duty

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Gakpo’s injury adds to Liverpool‘s woes after Alexander Isak withdrew from Sweden duty with a minor thigh injury.

The striker played the full 90 minutes and scored a goal in his side’s 2-1 win on Friday over Romania in the Nations League.

However, he will not be involved in Sweden’s remaining three matches in this international break and assessed by his club’s medical staff.

On Thursday, Arsenal forward Kai Havertz and Sunderland‘s Brian Brobbey both went off injured in the same game as the Netherlands drew with Germany.

German Havertz was caught on the knee by a high boot from Quinten Timber in Amsterdam and had to be replaced.

Netherlands forward Brobbey – off the back off a hat-trick in Sunderland‘s 5-3 Premier League defeat by Manchester City – then appeared to suffer a muscle injury.

A further blow for Sunderland on this international break came as Dan Ballard suffered a hamstring injury late in Northern Ireland’s 1-0 win over Georgia on Friday.

Boss Michael O’Neill has confirmed the injury will rule him out of the national team’s remaining fixtures in this international break.

It is not just Premier League teams who are being impacted by injuries to their players while on international duty.

Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe has been ruled out for at least two weeks after injuring his knee while scoring the winner in Zinedine Zidane’s first game in charge of France.

He scored a record-extending 67th goal from Michael Olise’s pass to sink Turkey, but he was limping immediately and had to be replaced five minutes later.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala suffered a muscle injury during the warm-up for the game against the Netherlands and had to withdraw.

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Nations League: Craig Bellamy ‘hurting’ as Wales outclassed by Denmark

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Denmark dominated early on and saw Mikkel Damsgaard fire against the post shortly after Isaksen had a goal disallowed for offside.

Despite an improvement from Wales after the opening half an hour, they were ultimately undone from two Danish set-pieces.

“I said to the players before the game, ‘this is going to be tougher than Portugal’,” Bellamy added.

“It was a different challenge but a very difficult one. The best team won overall.

“As disappointed as I am with that, the result I probably think was fair.”

Defeat – which came just three days after a 1-0 loss to Portugal in Lisbon – leaves Wales with plenty of work to do.

They will at least have home advantage at Cardiff City Stadium as they prepare for the remainder of the current international break, with matches against Norway on Thursday, 1 October and then Denmark the following Sunday.

Captain Davies feels Wales are being taught some harsh lessons in what is their second stint in the top tier of the Nations League.

“It was a tough game. They are a good team and made it a hard game for us,” the Spurs defender told BBC Match of the Day Wales.

“It was really frustrating to concede from two set pieces. The Nations League games are against the best teams in Europe, it was always going to be tough.

“If you’re not at 100% then you are going to get punished at this level. We have to regroup and go again on Thursday.”

Despite the setback in the Danish capital, winger Sorba Thomas echoed Bellamy’s sentiments that Wales can improve.

“Thankfully we’ve got two games at home still to come. We’ll have home advantage so we need to show a reaction,” he told BBC Match of the Day Wales.

“We are just going to get better, we are a small nation but we’ve got big hearts and beliefs and for us it’s about showing that more on the pitch.”

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