First NBA Restart Game Lines And Odds Posted On Sportsbooks

• The Boston Celtics are five-point underdogs to the Milwaukee Bucks.
• The Los Angeles Lakers are one-point favorites in a matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers.
• These four teams have the shortest odds to win the NBA Finals.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The first lines for the NBA restart have already been posted on some of the major online sportsbooks.

There are lines on many of the opening games for the first three days of the restart - July 30, July 31, and August 1.

July 30 - LA Clippers vs. LA Lakers

The NBA’s restart begins with a bang as two of the three best teams in the league face off in a crosstown rivalry matchup - in a different town.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the favorites to win it all this year, and their odds have actually been steadily getting shorter as the restart approaches.

The Los Angeles Clippers, meanwhile, have the third shortest odds, and are widely regarded as a team that might not have operated at full strength yet.

It remains to be seen what effect a layoff of this magnitude has on the two teams, and there are arguments in both directions as far as benefits go.

For the Lakers, LeBron James is well into the back half of his career, and a prolonged period of rest before the playoffs could be exactly what he needs to reach peak performance.

That said, Avery Bradley will not be participating in the restarted season, and they have replaced him with the newly signed J.R. Smith.

For the Clippers, stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have been hampered intermittently by injury troubles, and the pause could have given them time to get fully in shape.

This game will help NBA bettors understand the effects of the lockdown and pause in the NBA on these two teams.

The odds in the game favor the Lakers, but only slightly:

This game should be incredible, and it will air as the second part of the opening doubleheader at 9:00 p.m. EST on July 30.

July 31 - Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks

From the best teams in the West, it’s time to check out the beasts of the East - the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics.

The Bucks are the remaining team in the aforementioned top three teams in the NBA. They are clearly the best team in the Eastern Conference and might be the best team in the league as a whole.

Their record of 53-12 remains the best in the league, above both the Lakers and the Clippers.

The Boston Celtics, meanwhile, look to be a team that could mount a challenge to the dominance of the Bucks but are unable to match their record.

The Celtics have a 43-21 record, good for third in the Eastern Conference, and are the only team in the Eastern Conference that has under +1000 odds in a series against the Bucks.

The spread here is reflective of the gap between the two teams. While the Celtics might be the Eastern team that is best able to match the Bucks, they are unlikely to win any individual matchup with them.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is unstoppable this year, and the Celtics, while they are coached well, and do operate well as a unit defensively (4th in defensive rating this year), might not be able to slow him down.

This game could be telling as to how the layoff will affect the Bucks. They were a young team, and in a serious groove at the time the season paused.

It is possible that they are negatively impacted by this - their closest title rivals, the Lakers and the Clippers are built around players that are older and have a more serious injury history than Giannis does.

It could be that the Bucks, who were in great form, are one of the teams who are hurt the most by this restart.

All of that said, they should still be able to pull out a win against the Celtics, based solely on talent.

The betting odds are already up at the best online sportsbooks, and that is great news for NBA bettors.