The Warriors are the early favorites against the Lakers ahead of their second-round NBA playoff series.
Golden State is -165 at BetMGM to beat the Lakers over their seven-game series that starts Tuesday. The Warriors advanced with a 120-100 win over the Kings in Game 7 on Sunday thanks to an incredible and historic performance from Stephen Curry. He scored 50 points — the most ever by anyone in a Game 7 in NBA playoff history — as the Warriors won their second road game of the series.
The Warriors won just 11 of 41 road games during the regular season.
The Lakers are at +140 to win the series after they shut out the Memphis Grizzlies in six games. Los Angeles won Game 6 by 40 points as it had no trouble with Memphis at home after the Grizzlies won Game 5 in Memphis to extend the series.
The Warriors are at +135 to win the series by two games or more. If you think the Lakers can win the series or in seven games, you can get LA at -165.
Since the series features both Curry and LeBron James it’s an obvious statement that it’s the biggest of the second round for the NBA even though both teams were the lower seed in their first-round matchups. It’s the first time Curry and James have faced off in a playoff series that wasn’t the NBA Finals or when James was on the Cavaliers. The Warriors won the 2015, 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals against the Cavaliers while Cleveland beat the Warriors in seven games in 2016. As you probably know, Kevin Durant joined the Warriors in the following offseason.
James’ Lakers beat Curry and the Warriors in a play-in game in 2021, but that doesn’t officially count as a playoff game.
As the No. 6 seed, Golden State will have home court advantage over the No. 7 seed Lakers. It’s the first time in NBA playoff history that a No. 5 seed (New York Knicks), a No. 6 seed, a No. 7 seed and a No. 8 seed (Miami Heat) have advanced to the second round in the same season.
Even though the Lakers are fairly significant underdogs to the Warriors, oddsmakers like the chances of the series going seven games. A seven-game series is the favorite among exact game bets at +185 while a six-game series either way is at +195. A five-game series is +240 and a sweep by either team is at +650.