On Friday night, the last two spots in the NBA playoffs will be determined. The Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets await their first-round opponents, with the No. 8 seeds in each conference to be decided. In both play-in games, the home teams are favored by 5.5 points at BetMGM. The Miami Heat are favorites over the Chicago Bulls, while the Minnesota Timberwolves are expected to win against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Bulls and Thunder became the first No. 10 seeds to win play-in games on Wednesday, and with upsets on Friday, they could become the first teams to make the playoffs after starting as No. 10 seeds. Jimmy Butler is expected to lead the Heat, but the Bulls may not have DeMar DeRozan’s daughter Diar in attendance, who caused a distraction during Wednesday’s game. Meanwhile, the Thunder have Rudy Gobert back after his suspension, and the Wolves may have trouble defending Oklahoma City's lineup of five wings.
Though the spreads are the same in both games, the totals differ greatly. Miami's total is just 208.5, while Minnesota's is 228.5. The road teams are both +180 on the money line, while the home teams are -225. Our predictions for the game are for the Heat to win outright, and the game to go over that low total. We also expect the Thunder to pull off a surprise and earn the right to face the Nuggets.
