We now know the two number eight seeds in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. In the final two games of the National Basketball Association Play-In Tournament, the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95. The Bulls will play the Milwaukee Bucks in one of eight quarterfinal series, while the Timberwolves will play the Denver Nuggets.
In the Eastern Conference play-in game, two Bulls led the team offensively with 31 points each. They were small forwards Jimmy Butler of Houston, Texas and Max Strus of Hickory Hills, Illinois. Only one other Bulls player reached double digits in scoring as shooting guard Tyler Herro of Milwaukee, Wisconsin had 12 points. Herro will now face the team that is based out of his birth city. Meanwhile, Bam Adebayo had an impressive 17 rebounds in this defensive matchup.
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In the Western Conference play-in game, three Timberwolves had double-doubles. Power forward Karl-Anthony Towns of Edison, New Jersey had 28 points and 11 rebounds, center Rudy Gobert of Saint-Quentin, France had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and shooting guard Anthony Edwards of Atlanta, Georgia had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Three more Timberwolves reached double-digits in scoring. Point guard Mike Conley of Fayetteville, Arkansas had 14 points, shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Toronto, Ontario had 12 points, and forward Kyle Anderson of New York, New York had 11 points.
This was Gobert’s first game after being suspended one game for punching Anderson in the final Timberwolves game of the regular season. It will be interesting to see the dynamics between Gobert and Anderson moving forward.
