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

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.