NBA Play-In tournament preview

By Ethan Barlow

Plenty of drama is in the offing in the NBA Play-Ins

The NBA regular season has now reached its climax with every team playing 82 matches across an entertaining season of basketball. With the Playoffs quickly approaching (April 20), the league’s fifth edition of the SoFi NBA Play-In tournament must take place first.

Introduced in 2020, this tournament allows more teams to have a chance at Playoff glory beyond the 82 matches played throughout the season. In both the Eastern and Western Conferences, the six teams with the best records reach the Playoffs and the teams ranked from seventh to 10th seed take part in a tournament to make up the last two places.

Since the tournament was first introduced, it has split opinions between many people involved in elite-level basketball. Many believe teams ranked ninth and 10th seed shouldn’t have a chance at being in the Playoffs as the jam-packed season is enough for teams to earn their spot in the top eight of each conference. Despite the controversy over the extra matches, there’s no doubt the tournament brings unrivalled entertainment as teams fight in one-off affairs in opposition to the Playoffs’ seven-game format.

This year, there were last-day scrambles in both conferences for Playoff positions (avoiding the Play-Ins). In the Eastern Conference, it was last season’s conference finalists and semi-finalists who fell to final-day disappointment, in the Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers finished in seventh seed and last season’s NBA finalists ended up in eighth seed.

Finishing as the higher-seeded team, the Sixers will host the Heat in Philadelphia on Wednesday (April 17). The Sixers are probably vastly underseeded for the actual quality of their players. Joel Embiid being injured for months moved the Sixers from a comfortable top-three seeding in the conference to missing out on the playoffs. The return of last season’s MVP has sparked an eight-match winning streak and having the home advantage they’ll be favourites to win and secure seventh seed, but the Heat went all the way to last season’s NBA Finals from the Play-Ins and shouldn’t be underestimated. Former Sixer and now Florida frontman Jimmy Butler has earned a reputation as one of the biggest post-season performance-level raisers ever. Whoever is victorious will set up an epic first-round series against the second-seed New York Knicks. And for the loser, they will be massive favourites to win their second chance at clinching their place in the Playoffs, when they host the winner of the ninth and 10th seed’s bout.

Former teammates Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler (Image: Getty Images)

In the Eastern Conference, the teams occupying ninth and 10th seeds have been known for quite a while. Finishing eight and 11 wins away from Playoff positions, the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks already learned their best post-season fate quite a while ago.

The difference in record between both matchups makes whoever wins this matchup massive underdogs going to Miami or Philadelphia.

The Bulls have won five of their last 10 and with home advantage and the higher seeding, they are favourites to go into the second round. DeMar DeRozan has been on fire recently and with Coby White and Nikola Vucevic easily being able to drop 20 points, they should have too much firepower for the visitors.

The Hawks, unlike their opponents, advanced to last season’s Playoffs through the Play-In tournament. The Hawks were victorious as the seventh seed beating the eighth seed Heat. The Bulls won this round of the tournament last season but fell to the Heat in the following matchup. The Hawks have won just three of their last 10 and have lost their last six matches. Trae Young returning from injury may inspire the Atlantans to an unexpected victory as we know what their main man is capable of. Whoever wins the second-round matchup will enter the Playoffs as the eighth seed and face the Boston Celtics in the first round, if it's the Sixers or the Heat it could be a very interesting matchup.

DeMar DeRozan and Trae Young could be match-winners (Image: Getty Images)

In the Western Conference, the New Orleans Pelicans suffered last-day heartbreak when they dropped out of the sixth seed after losing to the eighth seed and their Play-In opponents, the LA Lakers. The Lakers' win and the Phoenix Suns' victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves stopped the Western Play-Ins from being an all-Pacific Division tournament. The Sacramento Kings host the Golden State Warriors in the ninth and 10th seed bout.

Both matches have recent history and will be interesting encounters. The Lakers prevented the Pelicans from advancing through to the Playoffs and defeated them in the In-season tournament semi-final. With a lack of post-season experience, the 2019 number one overall pick, Zion Williamson has a lot to prove as do the Pelicans. LeBron James and co have been in this scenario enough and even went to last season’s conference finals through a Play-In position. This matchup could easily go either way, but there is talk of each team trying to lose to avoid facing the reigning champions and season favourites, the Denver Nuggets, in the first round. If they were to lose, they face a lot more similar opposition (in terms of record) compared to the Eastern Conference’s ninth and 10th seeds.

LeBron James of the Lakers and Zion Williamson of the Pelicans facing off in the In-season tournament (Image: Getty Images)

The Kings and the Warriors faced off in an epic first-round battle last campaign, where it took all seven matches for Steve Kerr’s team to advance. This time around, the Kings are the favourites, boasting one of the best centres and point guards in the league they should have too much for a Warriors team which seems too reliant on club icon, Stephen Curry. There really is potential to see any two teams advance out of the tournament when the matches are played on Tuesday (April 16). The team that advances as the eighth seed will play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.