The NBA playoffs get started Saturday and the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best odds to win the title at the BetMGM online sportsbook.
The Thunder are +185 to win it all, with the Boston Celtics right behind at +200.
No. 1 Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Heat or Hawks
No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Magic — Series odds: Celtics -10000, Magic +2000
No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Pistons — Series odds: Knicks -425, Pistons +325
No. 4 Pacers vs. No. 5 Bucks — Series odds: Pacers -210, Bucks +170
The Celtics are massive favorites to move on to the Eastern Conference semifinals with an implied probability of 99.01% of winning the series. The Knicks are heavy favorites to advance, although the Pistons have surprised many this season, going from the worst record in the league a year ago to the No. 6 seed in the playoffs this year.
The most compelling series should be the Pacers-Bucks, but Milwaukee is expected to be without Damian Lillard while he recovers from blood clots.
Cleveland, the No. 1 seed in the East, will take on the winner of Friday’s Heat-Hawks play-in game.
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Grizzlies or Mavericks
No. 2 Rockets vs. No. 7 Warriors — Series odds: Rockets +160, Warriors -190
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Timberwolves — Series odds: Lakers -200, Timberwolves +165
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Clippers — Series odds: Nuggets +105, Clippers -125
The Western Conference is expected to be much more competitive than the East. The higher seed is favored in two of the series. Golden State is a much different team with the addition of Jimmy Butler, and the same can be said for the Lakers with Luka Doncic.
The Nuggets-Clippers series is a toss-up, and it is +190 to go the full seven games. This is the shortest price for the “series will end in how many games” market.
Oklahoma City will take on the winner of Friday’s play-in game between the Grizzlies and Mavericks.
— Thunder +185
— Celtics +200
— Cavaliers +550
— Lakers +1000
— Warriors +1400
— Clippers +2500
— Knicks +3500
— Nuggets +3500
— Timberwolves +6600
— Pacers +8000
— Rockets +8000
The NBA championship odds show a two-team race in the Eastern Conference. After Boston (+200) and Cleveland (+550), the Knicks are at +3500.
The Western Conference is much more open, highlighted by the Warriors as the No. 7 seed having the fifth-best odds in the league to win the NBA championship.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander +180
— Jayson Tatum +225
— Donovan Mitchell +700
— Jaylen Brown +1600
— Luka Doncic +2000
— Stephen Curry +2200
— Nikola Jokic +2800
— Kristaps Porzingis +3000
— LeBron James +3000
— Darius Garland +4000
— Evan Mobley +4000
— Kawhi Leonard +4000
The players on the teams with the best odds to win the championship are high on the list to win the NBA Finals MVP award. The Celtics have three players with the eight-shortest odds.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a dunk by Moses Moody (4) against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard, right, reaches in on Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, April 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) battles for a rebound against Charlotte Hornets center Jusuf Nurkic (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, shoots near Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are due to hold their first direct peace talks in three years Friday, gathering in Istanbul for Turkish-brokered negotiations, but officials and observers expect them to yield little immediate progress on stopping the more than 3-year war.
A Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was due to meet with a low-level Russian team headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky.
The latest push to end the fighting got off to a rocky start on Thursday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face. Delegations from the two countries also flew to different Turkish cities and put together teams of significantly different diplomatic heft for possible talks.
Although expectations for a possible Putin-Zelenskyy meeting were low, the apparent lack of traction in peace efforts frustrated hopes of bold steps being taken in Turkey toward reaching a settlement.
The two sides are far apart in their conditions for ending the war, and U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday during a trip to the Middle East that a meeting between himself and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock.
On Friday, Trump said a meeting with Putin would happen “as soon as we can set it up.”
“I think it’s time for us to just do it,” Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
Ukraine has accepted a U.S. and European proposal for a full, 30-day ceasefire, but Putin has effectively rejected it by imposing far-reaching conditions.
Meantime, Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.
Russia’s invasion has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, the U.N. says, and razed towns and villages. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have died, and likely a larger number of Russian troops, officials and analysts say.
A Friday morning drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk killed a 55-year-old woman and wounded four men, Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, said. All the victims worked for a municipal utility.
After Putin didn’t take up Zelenskyy’s challenge to sit down with him in the Turkish capital on Thursday, the Ukrainian president accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as “a theater prop.”
Even so, Zelenskyy said that he was sending a team headed by his defense minister to Friday’s meeting in Istanbul. That would show Trump that Ukraine is determined to press ahead with peace efforts despite Russian foot-dragging, Zelenskyy said, amid intense diplomatic maneuvering by Kyiv and Moscow.
The Russian delegation also includes three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.
A flurry of diplomatic activity took place in Istanbul before the talks.
Ukrainian officials held an early-morning meeting with national security advisers from the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to coordinate positions, a senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The U.S. team was led by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, while Umerov and presidential office chief Andriy Yermak represented Ukraine, the official said.
A three-way meeting between Turkey, the U.S. and Ukraine also took place, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said. The U.S. side included Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Kellogg.
Rubio on Thursday said he didn't foresee major developments in Istanbul.
“We don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow. And frankly, at this point, I think it’s abundantly clear that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin,” Rubio told reporters Thursday in Antalya, Turkey.
Zelenskyy, meantime, flew to Albania to attend a meeting Friday of the leaders of 47 European countries to discuss security, defense and democratic standards against the backdrop of the war.
Aamer Madhani in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, servicemen prepare the drone "Kazhan" that delivers supply and carry heavy bombs, on the front line near Chasiv Yar town, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
Vehicles begin arriving outside a gate prior to expected talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)
Vehicles begin arriving outside a gate prior to expected talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)
