Nets open postseason as favorites over Lakers, Clippers

With the NBA playoff field nearly finalized, the Brooklyn Nets are the favorites over the Lakers and Clippers.

The Nets are +210 ahead of the defending champion Lakers (+500) and Clippers (+600), with the Los Angeles teams nearly even in the odds to win the Western Conference.

The Lakers are playing for the No. 7 seed in the play-in format against the Golden State Warriors. Led by scoring champion Stephen Curry, Golden State is +16000 to win the title.

Utah is even with the Clippers at +600. The Jazz expect Donovan Mitchell (ankle) to play in their firstround series.

After the Milwaukee Bucks (+800) and Philadelphia 76ers (+800), there’s a steep dropoff to the next set of contenders. The Bucks open the playoffs with a series against reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami.

The Heat have +3000 odds to win the championship.

INJURIES LIKELY TO IMPACT QUALITY OF PLAY >> The NBA playoffs should be entertaining, as they always are.

Just don’t count on the basketball being as good as usual.

Not after a truncated season during which the injuries were too frequent, the practice time too scarce, to allow teams to peak for the postseason.

“It’s been much more devastating to culture and to establishing momentum for sure, for all of us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “And I definitely think that, I hate to say it but it’s the truth: There’s no way it can be the best basketball for all the teams.”

LeBron James was a spectator the night the Lakers raised the banner for the championship they won last year, as he was for most of the second half of the season because of an ankle injury. The Brooklyn Nets assembled an explosive Big Three of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, then went three months in between getting to play them for the seventh and eighth time.

The Utah Jazz won the Western Conference, but will have played for more than a month without All-Star Donovan Mitchell by the time he returns from ankle injury.