Fansided

Brooklyn Nets playoff odds: FiveThirtyEight prediction should excite Nets fans

By Peter Dewey

Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Do the Brooklyn Nets have a stranglehold on the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference?

That’s what it looks like in the latest odds, and Brooklyn isn’t completely out of the race for the No. 5 spot, even though it is 2.5 games back of the New York Knicks with four to play.

Here’s a look at Brooklyn’s latest playoff odds and prediction:

Brooklyn Nets’ odds to make the playoffs this season

The Nets are in such a good spot to make the postseason that oddsmakers have actually taken their odds off the board at this point in this season.

Brooklyn is still +35000 to win the NBA Finals this season, but it’s impressive that the team has hung in the top six in the East despite trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this season.

FiveThirtyEight expects Nets to lock up No. 6 seed

Based on FiveThirtyEight’s latest playoff odds, it looks like the Nets are a massive favorite to finish with the No. 6 seed.

Brooklyn has a two-game lead on the Miami Heat for the No. 6 spot, and the team has a greater than 99 percent chance of making the playoffs.

This is significant because the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, have been given 86 and 91 percent chances to make the postseason.

While those are still high, this 99 percent chance shows that Brooklyn may completely avoid the play-in tournament. Since Brooklyn swept its season series with the Heat, the team holds the tiebreaker for the No. 6 seed.

The Nets finish the season with games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.

Needing just one win, the Nets should be able to handle the tanking Pistons, and if not there’s a good chance that Philly is locked into its seed by the final game of the season, which may lead to it resting some of its key players.

Brooklyn has pivoted nicely from its moves at the deadline, and Mikal Bridges looks like a bonafide star, averaging 27.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 23 games for the Nets.

The Nets may not be title contenders, but fans have to be happy with a playoff appearance given how wild this season has been.

—

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.