2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket: Odds, picks, predictions, best bets from basketball model on 86-50 roll
Written by CBS SPORTS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on November 30, 2023
The 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament will continue with single-elimination play beginning on Dec. 4 and eight teams will compete for the first-of-its-kind championship. Every team in the NBA took part in group play, with each conference split into three groups of five teams that played each other round-robin style. The Bucks, Pacers and Celtics won their groups in the East, while the Knicks made it out of the group stage as the wild card based on point differential. Meanwhile, the Lakers, Pelicans and Kings won their groups in the West with the Suns earning the wild card spot.
The latest 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament odds list the Celtics as +300 favorites, followed by the Bucks (+340), Lakers (+550) and Kings (+550). With the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket set, first-round play will take place on Dec. 4/5 with the higher seed hosting while the semifinals and finals will take place on Dec. 7 and 9 in Las Vegas. Before making any basketball picks or 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket predictions, be sure to see what SportsLine’s advanced computer model has to say.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past five-plus seasons. The model enters Week 6 of the 2023-24 NBA season on an 86-50 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning more than $3,000. Anyone following it is way up.
Now, it has turned its attention to the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket and locked in NBA picks for every NBA matchup. Head here to see every pick.
Top 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament predictions
One of the surprising NBA In-Season Tournament bracket predictions from the model: It is fading the Boston Celtics even though they’re the favorites to win it all at 3-1. Boston had an incredible offseason, adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to a core that already included All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
They’re off to a 14-4 start that puts them atop the Eastern Conference standings but it wasn’t always easy for the Celtics during group play of the NBA In-Season Tournament. Boston took a 17-point loss to the Magic in its third group-stage matchup and then needed a 27-point win over the Bulls on the final day of group play to narrowly sneak by the Magic and Nets in Group C on point differential.
Porzingis suffered a calf injury last week and isn’t expected to be reevaluated until just before Boston’s first-round matchup with the Pacers on Monday. That’s a big reason why the model only has the Celtics winning their first-round game in 50.5% of simulations. The model only has Boston winning the title 18.7% of the time, which falls well short of its implied odds. See which other teams to pick here.
How to make 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket picks
The model has made the call on who wins every other game in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket, and it thinks one double-digit long shot is an incredible value to win it all. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.
So who wins every game in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament? And what double-digit long shot is a surprising value to win it all? Check out the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament bracket below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win all from a proven computer model that has returned well over $10,000 since its inception, and find out.
2023 NBA In-Season Tournament brackets, schedule, odds
Get full NBA picks at SportsLine
2023 NBA In-Season Tournament schedule/bracket:
(All times Eastern)
Monday, Dec. 4
Quarterfinal: Celtics at Pacers, 7:30 p.m.
Quarterfinal: Pelicans at Kings, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Quarterfinal: Knicks at Bucks, 7:30 p.m.
Quarterfinal: Suns at Lakers, 10 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 7
East semifinal: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas, time TBD
West semifinal: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas, time TBD
Saturday, Dec. 9
Final: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m.
2023 NBA In-Season Tournament odds:
Celtics +300
Bucks +340
Lakers +550
Kings +550
Suns +650
Pelicans +1200
Pacers +1300
Knicks +1400