NBA playoff guide: Who plays when, how to watch, what the odds are

By The
Associated Press

The NBA gave the MVP his trophy, and he put on a show in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his MVP trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday, then scored 38 points to lead the Thunder past the Minnesota Timberwolves on their way to a 2-0 lead in the West title series.

That series shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Saturday night. But first, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals awaits on Friday night, when the New York Knicks will try to recover from blowing a 17-point lead and losing the opener to the Indiana Pacers.

Also Friday: The All-NBA team gets announced.

The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award

The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife

Steve Nash speaks: Canada's 1st MVP thrilled to see SGA follow him

The notebook: Jokic finishes top-2 for 5th straight year, Giannis' streak ends, LeBron gets votes

— Nuggets take the interim tag off David Adelman, name him coach

— Tyrese Haliburton's dad is still enjoying the playoffs

— Meet Nick Gallo: The Thunder sideline reporter is a star

— Inside the numbers going into the conference finals

8 p.m. EDT — Indiana at New York (TNT)

8:30 p.m. EDT — Oklahoma City at Minnesota (ESPN)

8 p.m. EDT — New York at Indiana (TNT)

8:30 p.m. EDT — Oklahoma City at Minnesota (ESPN)

Oklahoma City (-300) is now an even bigger favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana (+550) remains the second choice, followed by New York (+850) and Minnesota (+1800).

The Knicks are a 6.5-point favorite over Indiana on Friday.

East (all 8 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Indiana 138, New York 135, OT; Game 2 at New York on Friday; Game 3 at Indiana on Sunday; Game 4 at Indiana on May 27; Game 5 at New York on May 29; Game 6 at Indiana on May 31; Game 7 at New York on June 2.

West (all 8:30 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88; Game 2, Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103; Game 3 at Minnesota on Saturday, Game 4 at Minnesota on May 26, Game 5 at Oklahoma City on May 28, Game 6 at Minnesota on May 30, Game 7 at Oklahoma City on June 1.

Mark your calendars, then start your engines.

For the first time since 2013, Indianapolis will play host to the Indy 500 and a Pacers home game on the same day.

It'll happen Sunday. The race starts the day, then Game 3 of the East finals is at 8 p.m.

All that's left is the All-NBA team, which will be revealed Friday night on TNT before Game 2 of Knicks-Pacers.

The All-Defensive team was announced Thursday.

Other awards so far:

— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP award.

— Stephon Castle was a unanimous All-Rookie team selection.

— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.

— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year.

— Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.

— Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels won most improved player.

— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.

— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.

— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.

— Cleveland’s Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.

— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.

— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.

The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:

48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6

44 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13

43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9

43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29

43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27

43 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Indiana, May 21

42 — Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12

42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5

40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1

39 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12

39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21

June 1 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.

June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.

June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)

June 25 — NBA draft, first round.

June 26 — NBA draft, second round.

Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery — but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery on Monday night in Chicago.

— Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn't forgotten his roots

— From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey

— A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill

— Mavs win lottery

— Rick Welts has seen this before

There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.

The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:

29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)

20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)

20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)

20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)

20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)

Indiana has now pulled off three last-minute rallies from at least seven points down to win in these playoffs:

— April 29: Trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime, won 119-118.

— May 6: Trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left, won 120-119.

— May 21: Trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation, won 138-135 in overtime.

— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now 12 field goals away from 1,000 this season, including playoffs. The only Thunder player with 1,000 made FGA in a season was Kevin Durant, with 1,043 in 2013-14.

— The 273 points scored in the Knicks-Pacers game on Wednesday were the most in a conference finals game since April 1, 1967, when the San Francisco Warriors beat the St. Louis Hawks 143-136 in what was then called the Western Division finals.

“Two games is a really small sample. I wouldn't read too much into two games." — Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault, after the Thunder took a 2-0 lead over Minnesota.

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