If you have read my posts in the past, you will know how I feel about the NBA Play-In tournament that begins Tuesday. A year ago, the 34-48 San Antonio Spurs qualified for the tournament despite being 14 games BELOW .500! This week of games should not exist. The top eight teams should have been rewarded for their regular season play and the actual playoffs should have started tonight. That’s not the case, and as a result, we have six silly play-in games that need to be played between now and Friday. Let’s see who are the eight teams battling for four spots this week.
In the East, the 7-8 game on Tuesday will feature the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat. The winner gets the seventh seed, while the loser has a second chance, as they will face the winner of the 9-10 game (Toronto Raptors versus the Chicago Bulls) on Friday to decide the eighth seed.
In the West, the 7-8 game on Tuesday will feature LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Meanwhile, the 9-10 game on Wednesday will feature the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder.
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We already know four first round playoff matchups. In the East, Philadelphia will play Brooklyn and Cleveland will play New York. In the West, Sacramento will play Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers will play Phoenix. The top two seeds in the East are Milwaukee and Boston. The top two seeds in the West are Denver and Memphis.
Meanwhile, with the NBA regular season coming to an end on Sunday, we know who the leaders were for the statistical categories. They include Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (33.1 points per game), Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings (12.3 rebounds per game), and James Harden of the 76ers (10.7 assists per game).
What do you think of the play-in tournament? Is it silly, or should these games be played?
Tell us what you think in the comments below.
