NBA playoffs 2026 odds: Lakers, LeBron James enter Oklahoma City Thunder series as historic underdogs
The Lakers are 16-point underdogs in Game 1 at the Thunder.
LeBron James and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers finished off the Houston Rockets in their 2026 NBA Playoffs first-round series on Friday night with a resounding 98-78 win in Game 6 to take the series 4-2. Without Austin Reaves for part of the series and Luka Dončić for all the series, the Lakers entered as big +425 underdogs against the Rockets. But Kevin Durant didn’t play in five of the six games due to a variety of injuries, Reaves came back and James carried Los Angeles to the playoff series victory.
Unfortunately, the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder — after a 4-0 sweep of the No. 8 seed Phoenix Suns — have been waiting for Los Angeles and oddsmakers have installed James as the biggest playoff underdog he’s even been in his illustrious career.
The Lakers are currently +950 underdogs in the series against the Thunder, which is the biggest playoff underdog the Lakers have been at this point in the playoffs as a franchise since at least 1988 — as far back as the Sports Odds History database goes. It’s the second-biggest underdog a James-led team has been in a playoff series. The largest was all the way back in 2006 — James’ first year in the postseason — when the Cleveland Cavaliers were 12-1 underdogs against the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the playoffs.
The Pistons won that series in seven games. The Lakers are currently 16-point underdogs at the Thunder in Game 1 at sportsbooks, which would be the biggest underdog LeBron has ever been in a playoff game. The previous high was back in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, when James’ Cavaliers were 12.