2021 NBA Playoff Odds

The first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs are underway, and BetRivers.com is proud to provide a wide variety of NBA Playoff odds, props, and futures. Monday, May 24 features two NBA Playoff games, beginning with Game 2 between the No. 3 seed Milwaukee Bucks and No. 6 seed Miami Heat followed by Game 2 of the No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 6 Portland Trail Blazers. Betting on NBA Playoff is easy if you choose a certified sportsbook like BetRivers. Bet Now and earn real money!

But before we get to the 2021 NBA Playoff odds for Tuesday night, let’s quickly look back at how we got here.

The Bucks defeated the Heat 109-107 in Game 1, and the public was on the Milwaukee ML with 71% of the handle. Although the Bucks won, they did not cover, leading to a win for just 29% of the public backing Heat +4.5.  The Blazers pulled off the slight upset, beating the Nuggets 123-109. The public was on the upset, backing Portland ML with 68% of the ML handle and 59% of the spread handle. The Over was also a winner, backed by 83% of the O/U handle.

Longtime basketball writer Rob Dauster, the co-founder of The Field of 68 Podcast Network is here to break down the 2021 NBA Playoff Odds for Bucks-Heat Game 2 and Nuggets-Blazers Game 2 on Monday, May 24.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL LIST OF 2021 NBA PLAYOFF ODDS

2021 NBA PLAYOFF ODDS: MONDAY, MAY 24

#6 MIAMI HEAT (0-1) at #3 MILWAUKEE BUCKS (1-0)
GAME 2: 7:40 p.m. ET, TNT
MONEYLINE: Bucks -195 ML, Heat +160 ML
SPREAD: Bucks -4.5
OVER/UNDER: 223 points
Click here for the full list of Bucks-Heat Game 2 odds.

Everything came up Miami in the first game between these two teams.

Giannis was struggling, the Bucks couldn’t buy a three-pointer and Miami made a franchise-record 20 three-pointers. It didn’t matter, however, as Milwaukee was able to find a way to get a win and move to 1-0 in the series.

And for me, this is a very, very bad sign for the Heat moving forward.

Milwaukee is better this year than they were last year when they lost to the Heat in six games in the bubble. Miami, arguably, is worse — they struggled with injuries and players sitting out this season before winning 12 of their final 16 games. More importantly, this is a bad matchup for them. Milwaukee plays some of the toughest two-point defense in the NBA, which is where the Heat has made their money in recent seasons. Miami finished Saturday’s game shooting just 33 percent from two-point range. Jimmy Butler was 4-for-22 from the floor and just 2-for-13 from two-point range, getting forced into shooting nine threes — he took just 102 threes on the season.

Regression is going to hit eventually. Miami is not going to shoot 40 percent from three all series long. Milwaukee is not going to struggle from beyond the arc the way they did on Saturday all series long. And when those numbers start to move closer to the mean, it’s going to be a bad sign for the Heat.

Because the underlying numbers here suggest that Milwaukee, despite their struggles Saturday, is the better team.

#6 PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (1-0) at #3 DENVER NUGGETS (0-1)
GAME 2: 10:10 p.m. ET, TNT
MONEYLINE: Nuggets -122 ML, Blazers +102 ML
SPREAD: Nuggets -1.5
OVER/UNDER: 227 points
Click here for the full list of Nuggets-Blazers Game 2 odds.

Portland, believe it or not, was the biggest winner on the first weekend of the NBA Playoffs, as they whipped up on Denver on the road, winning 123-109. The Blazers did it with their three-point shooting — they finished a robust 19-for-40 from beyond the arc — and based on the fact that Denver just was not able to slow down Portland’s perimeter weaponry.

Damian Lillard. CJ McCollum. Anfernee Simons. That’s a lot for a team that A) wants to play bigger, and B) is missing their best guard due to a torn ACL.

For my money, the key to Portland’s win was two-fold. For starters, Jusuf Nurkic did a really good job in the second half slowing Nikola Jokic down. After going off for 22 in the first half, Jokic finished with just 12 points after halftime while adding just a single assist on the game. Jokic is going to get his, but when he finishes with 34 points, 16 boards and just one assist, you’ve done the job you need to do.

All that said, I think Denver is going to come out aggressive tonight. They cannot lose the first two games of the series at home. That will be the end of the road. So I like the Denver first half line as well as Denver (-1.5).

I also think that the over is interesting here. Neither team matches up well with each other defensively. Portland can’t deal with Denver’s size and Denver can’t stay in front of Portland’s guards.