NBA Western Conference Postseason Odds 2023: Lakers Favored To Miss Playoffs

Lakers Predicted to Miss the Playoffs

Could Los Angeles Lakers legend LeBron James miss the playoffs in the same season he became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer? For NBA betting fans, this is a very real possibility as the Lakers come out of the All-Star break at 27-32 and 13^th in the Western Conference.

To make the West playoffs, which means being in the final eight after the play-in tournament, the Lakers are +145 with no at -190. To finish somewhere in spots 7-10 and reach the play-in tournament, Los Angeles is -110. There is good news for online sports betting fans: LA has one of the easier schedules remaining in the league with its opponents owning a combined winning percentage of .483 the rest of the way.

“It’s 23 of the most important games of my career, for a regular season,” James said Sunday ahead of the All-Star Game. “I want to make a push to make the playoffs. I don’t want to see myself not being part of the postseason for two years straight. It’s just not part of my DNA.”

A LeBron team has missed the postseason just four times and the best online sportsbook sites are predicting a fifth in James’ historic, record-breaking season.

Latest Western Conference Postseason Odds

The sports betting odds have the other betting favorites to compete in the West play-in tournament as the Minnesota Timberwolves (-140), Golden State Warriors (-135) and New Orleans Pelicans (-125).

No one would have expected the defending champion Warriors to be just 29-29 out of the break, but they can’t win on the road and Steph Curry is hurt again. He’s already missed 20 games this season and probably won’t return for at least a few weeks from his lower left leg issue. The Warriors have an over-under postseason seed of 7.5, with the over a slight favorite.

On Dec. 30, the Pelicans were 23-12 and tied for first place in the Western Conference but now are 30-29 and seventh in the West. Superstar Zion Williamson hasn’t played since Jan. 2 due to a hamstring injury and recently had a setback, so he won’t be coming to the rescue soon.

New Orleans does have the third-easiest schedule remaining in the league behind only the lottery-bound Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks. The Pels are -160 to make the playoffs and +120 to miss. They also have an over-under seed of 7.5.

The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers sit 11^th and 12^th in the West and are both +140 to reach the play-in tournament. Portland has an over-under seed of 10.5 and Utah 11.5. The Lakers should at least pass both of those clubs.

The Denver Nuggets lead the West at 41-18 by five games over second-place Memphis, and the Nuggets are -5000 favorites to be the conference’s top seed and given a season updated win total of 56.5. They are +350 second favorites to win the West behind the Phoenix Suns (+225), who hope to see Kevin Durant make his team debut by next week. The Suns currently sit fifth in the West. For an exact NBA Finals matchup, Boston Celtics vs. Suns is the +600 favorite.

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