At the conclusion of Friday’s games we will know the 16 teams that will make the 2023 NBA Playoffs. In the final games of the NBA Play-In Tournament (which all of you know how I feel about), the Miami Heat will play the Chicago Bulls and the Minnesota Timberwolves will play the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Heat-Bulls winner will play the Milwaukee Bucks and the Thunder-Timberwolves winner will play the Denver Nuggets.
Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat– 7 PM ET
The Heat finished the regular season with a record of 44 wins and 38 losses. The Bulls finished the regular season with a record of 40 wins and 42 losses.
My Take:
Despite the worse record, the Bulls won all three games against the Heat this season. Chicago won 116-108 on October 19, 113-103 on December 20 and 113-99 on March 18. In the play-in games so far, the Bulls were extremely lucky to come through with a 109-105 win. Toronto was awful from the free-throw line as they missed 18 times. The Heat are 5.5 point favourites, and are more than capable in covering the spread. I also like the over at 208.5. The Heat have been involved in games of 209 points or more in all six of their April games.
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Oklahoma City Thunder @ Minnesota Timberwolves–9:30 PM ET
The Thunder are at 40 wins and 42 losses after the regular season. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are at 42 wins and 40 losses.
My Take:
The Timberwolves won three of four games during the season. However, the teams have not played against each other since December 16. Minnesota is entering the game with some tension as Rudy Gobert was suspended one game on Tuesday for punching teammate Kyle Anderson. The Thunder are playing with confidence at the moment and looked really good as a unit in their 123-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 32 points. Take the Thunder at +5.5, and the under at 228.5 points. When playing at a high level, Gobert is a force defensively, and the Thunder had 25 rebounds as a team in their win over New Orleans.
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