Nets' NBA Championship Odds Are Incorrect With Team as No. 10 Seed

The walls are closing in around the Brooklyn Nets.

Following a 1-3 stretch over the last week to the likes of Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks, the Nets are now the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, facing two win-or-go-home games in the play-in tournament.

However, despite being on the brink of missing the playoffs entirely, the Nets are still looked at favorably in the Eastern Conference odds market at WynnBET Sportsbook, +250 to win the East and +550 to win the NBA title.

After Saturday's loss to the Hawks, it's time to reassess where the Nets stand in the Futures market.

Nets Path to Playoffs More Difficult than Ever

Brooklyn isn't locked into the 9/10 meeting of the play-in tournament, but it's looking more likely than ever before after Saturday. The Nets are a game behind the Hawks and tied with the Hornets (Charlotte has the tiebreaker). However, Brooklyn has the tiebreaker over Atlanta. If the three were to tie, Brooklyn would get the leg up on Atlanta.

It's a mouth full, but the Nets are going to need some help to get out of the single elimination portion of next week's play-in.

Here is the remaining schedule for all 3 teams. The Nets have the easiest schedule in the entire league this week, per Tankathon, so a 4-0 close would do wonders for the Nets chances of getting out of the 9/10 game. The team would need just one loss from Atlanta and Charlotte in order to get back to the No. 8 spot.

It's worth noting as well that the Nets are chasing the Cleveland Cavaliers, who sit in the No. 7 spot. If the Nets go 4-0, and Cleveland loses one of their two other remaining two games (at Orlando, home Milwaukee) the Nets will pass them as well.

Of course, the more likely scenario is that the Nets end up in the single elimination game early next week. Currently, the Nets have a 72.8% chance of being the 9 or 10 seed, per Basketball Reference. If that's the case, the Nets' futures odds are way off.

Nets Recent Form Shows They Can Be Bounced in One Game Playoff Scenarios

While the team is a dangerous out in a seven-game series with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the floor, one-game scenarios are difficult for any team to overcome.

We saw the Nets lose to possible play-in opponents in Charlotte and Atlanta just this past week due to some wild variance that happens over the course of a game. The Nets shot 21% from beyond the arc in a nine-point loss to the Hornets last Sunday and the Hawks took 30 more free throws than Brooklyn in Saturday night's meeting despite 55 from Durant.

With the likelihood of needing to win two elimination games in order just to make the playoffs, there needs to be more of a correction in the Nets' futures prices.

At this rate, you can't touch these numbers given the fact that the Nets may be looking at a trip to Cancun in mid-April after losing one of two play-in games. There's too many things in Brooklyn's way right now after this past week's string of losses, hold out until this team makes the postseason before betting on them to make any noise in the postseason.