April 14th NBA Play-In Tournament Matchups NBA Odds

The 2023 NBA Play-in tournament has been thrilling so far, with three of the four matchups going right down to the wire.

Now, the No. 10 Chicago Bulls will have to beat the No. 7 Miami Heat with the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed on the line, while the No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder will look to do the same against the No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves for the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed. Both No. 10 seeds are once again large moneyline underdogs on all NBA betting sites.

Miami Heat vs. Chicago Bulls NBA Odds - April 14th, 7PM EST

The Heat’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night was the only play-in game so far that didn’t go right down to the wire. The Heat were very sloppy, so they will need to clean things up immensely if they want to hold off Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and the Chicago Bulls to claim that 8th seed in the East. All odds provided by Betway.

Miami Heat Odds

The Heat were just plain awful against the Hawks, there’s no getting around it. They were terrible at the rim, missing more easy layups as a team than they have in quite some time. They also lacked size and desire as they were embarrassed 63-39 on the boards, including 22-6 on the offensive glass.

The layups are likely to start falling and the rebounding issues will have to be addressed, but the most important part of their push for the postseason will be getting their two best players, Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, back on track after they combined to go just 11-for-31 against Atlanta. Knowing Butler’s ability and determination, however, Heat fans can expect a big bounce back from their talisman.

Chicago Bulls Odds

The Bulls showed great mental toughness in beating the Raptors in front of a raucous Toronto crowd, rallying back from down 19 in the third quarter. Zach LaVine was unstoppable while scoring 39 points, and he’ll have to have a similar performance against Miami if the Bulls want to advance. 

DeMar DeRozan was also solid, but a lot of credit has to go to his daughter, who’s shrieking contributed to the Raptors going a shocking 18-for-36 from the charity stripe. That is not going to happen to a Miami team led by Butler and coached by Erik Spoelstra, so the Bulls will need to get a much better contribution from their supporting cast in order to get that first round date with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Odds - April 14th, 930PM EST

The Lakers seemingly gave the Timberwolves every opportunity to win on Tuesday night, but the young team from Minnesota was unable to grasp any of them. They will now need to test their mettle against an up-and-coming Thunder squad that looked very good on Wednesday in their road win over the Pelicans. All odds provided by Betway.

Minnesota Timberwolves Odds

The Timberwolves are a mess right now. Not only was their big offseason acquisition suspended for a crucial play-in game for punching a teammate, but now the big Frenchman is unsure to play on Friday due to back spasms. Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels are also both out with a fractured wrist and hand, respectively.

At least Minnesota can take solace in the fact that Anthony Edwards can’t play much worse than he did against the Lakers, when he went 3-for-17 from the field. While Edwards is likely to have a bounce back game, expecting Mike Conley to go 6-for-8 from deep for 23 points again is a tall ask. Karl-Anthony Towns will need to avoid the foul trouble that plagued him in L.A. and put in a dominant performance for the Wolves to advance to the NBA Playoffs.

Oklahoma City Thunder Odds

Despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having just seven points at halftime against the Pelicans, the Thunder were already winning the game. SGA finished with 30+ points as he always does, but the addition of an aggressive Josh Giddey really made the Thunder tough to stop. Lu Dort was also excellent in the win, and the Thunder did a great job as a team of getting to the rim, finding contact, and converting their free throws.

If Rudy Gobert doesn’t play for the Wolves, the Thunder should have the advantage on the boards with the size their two rookies give them. In the end, however, it will take another game with Giddey and SGA at the height of their powers for the Thunder to get the win, even against a very weakened Minnesota squad.