The two No. 1 seeds in this year’s NBA Playoffs had little trouble grabbing a “W” in Game 1 of their respective semifinals series’ Tuesday night. Detroit dumped Cleveland, 111-101, and the Thunder clobbered the Lakers, 108-90. Game 2 of each series is set for Thursday night. Here is a betting preview of both basketball games.
Cleveland Cavaliers at Detroit Pistons
After going down 3-1 in their first round series against the Magic, the Pistons have now rattled off four straight playoff wins.
Detroit’s defense was on-point in Game 1 against the Cavs as it forced 20 Cleveland turnovers. Seven of those turnovers were committed by James Harden.
The Pistons are -3 favorites at Fanatics Sportsbook for Game 2 Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit was -3.5 in Game 1 and covered. The Pistons are now 4-4-0 against the spread this postseason, while Cleveland is 3-5-0 ATS.
Detroit and Cleveland went 4.5 points Under the projected 216.5 total in Game 1. The O/U is set for 215.5 at Fanatics for Game 2.
Cavs games have gone Over the total five times and Under three times so far this postseason. Pistons games have gone Over three times and Under five times so far in the playoffs.
Cade Cunningham’s points O/U is set at 27.5 for Game 2. The Pistons guard tallied 23 points in Game 1.
Donovan Mitchell’s points O/U at Fanatics has been set at 24.5. He scored 23 points in Game 1.
Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder
All signs are pointing toward an Oklahoma City sweep in this series. JJ Redick’s squad has not been competitive with OKC all season long as the Thunder won all four regular season games with the Lakers by an average of 29.3 points. OKC won by 18 in Game 1.
Austin Reaves had a particularly rough night for the Lakers in Game 1 as he went 3-of-16 from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point territory.
Chet Holmgren led the Thunder in scoring in Game 1, putting up 24 points.
OKC is a whopping -15.5 favorite for Game 2.
The Thunder are 3-2-0 against the spread in the playoffs thus far. The Lakers are 4-3-0 ATS in the postseason thus far.
Fanatics Sportsbook has the Over/Under for Lakers vs. Thunder Game 2 set at 209.5, juiced toward the Over. The two teams combined for just 198 points in Game 1.
Lakers games in the 2026 playoffs so far have gone Over twice and Under five times. OKC postseason games this year have gone Over three times and Under two times.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a rough outing in Game 1, by his standards, as he scored just 18 points. SGA also committed seven turnovers Tuesday night. His points O/U for Game 2 has been set at 29.5 by Fanatics.
LeBron James’ O/U for Game 2 has been at 20.5. He scored 27 points in Game 1.
