Playerz Circle's NBA Play-In Tournament Preview
If Adam Silver had any reason to make the NBA Play-In Tournament permanent despite the King’s request, it would be this star-studded event we’re getting starting tomorrow.
The State Farm-sponsored tournament is headlined by LeBron James beginning the defense of his crown against practically his biggest rival Stephen Curry in what was a spectacular season for the latter. This frantic NBA season filled with COVID and injuries to the big stars led to these wild state affairs but NBA fans not only get this legendary matchup but others filled with inner-team drama, a potential ROTY, and an unbelievable comeback by a franchise that was looking for the kill switch.
The format of the tournament is the seventh and eighth-seeded team in each respective conference will face off for what will be a secure playoff spot for the seventh seed in a one-game series. The loser will fall into the bracket against the winner of the ninth and tenth seed (loser is eliminated) for another one-game series where the winner will be donned the eighth seed. After the seventh and eighth seed are crowned the NBA Playoffs will go on as usual.
On Tuesday, the tournament is kicked off in the Eastern Conference with a double-header on TNT between the No.10 Hornets with ROTY hopeful Lamelo Ball and the No.9 Pacers starting at 6:30 p.m. Following is a matchup between the No.8 Wizards continuing their run against the struggling No.7 Celtics. On Wednesday night, the Western Conference gets its runs with the No.9 Grizzlies hosting the No.10 Spurs is probably the most hard-to-call matchup and then finally the No.8 Warriors and Curry visiting the defending champions, the No.7 Lakers and the King.
The NBA couldn’t ask for a better debut for this tournament. There has never been an NBA Champion from a Play-In Tournament and the Lakers have a very good chance at breaking history with a healthy duo of LeBron and AD. More storylines permeate throughout this big stage so until the games tomorrow I’ll give you some things to sit on until:
Hornets-Pacers
The Hornets are entering this matchup on a 5-game losing streak as they try to work in some of their returning players. Gordon Hayward has already been ruled out of the Tuesday contest which is a big blow for this team that has struggled without his scoring and passing. They will try to put the past behind them as coach James Borrego said following the Hornets' last loss of the season against the Wizards. “The past is behind us. We move forward. We’ve earned the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, and now we get a chance to play postseason basketball,” the coach said. “This one stings, but Tuesday night is a new season.”
And he’s right, for all these teams in the Play-In especially the Pacers who enter this matchup with some of the messiest drama coming to light at the end of the season. It’s been widely reported that Pacers players, specifically T.J. Warren did not approve of the hire of first-year head coach Nate Bjorkgren and requested a trade. Bjorkgren is a branch from the Nick Nurse tree who is questionable himself after the disappointing season for the Raptors. From reports, coach Bjorkgren's tactics on defense had been wearing thin on players during a long, difficult season. Then you have the beef between the caching staff going at it during a game:
It’s just been bad for the Pacers, and they might just sell this game just to get the season over with.
One more note in this matchup, all eyes will be on ROTY candidate Ball and how he performs on his first big stage. Voters may lend towards the rising star over his sole competitor Anthony Edwards if Ball has a big game and lead the Hornets on a miracle run into the playoffs though Ant has significantly made up in the race in the past few months.
Wizards-Celtics
The Brodie has been on a tear all season and capped it off with a historic season, becoming the All-Time leader in triple-doubles. He got his 38th trip-dub of the season in a win against the Hornets, with Bradley Beal returning to the lineup after missing a few games with a hamstring injury. In the final 26 games of the season, from April to now, the Wizards went 17-9 to make the Play-In Tournament. I don’t expect them to come this far just to lay down, but Beal's injury is a concern. If he’s limited, that gives the Celtics an edge on this team defensively with a great defender in Marcus Smart, though he’s been hit or miss this season. What works in the Wizards' favor though is their size inside with Robin Lopez being able to bang down low and new addition Daniel Gafford eating down there too. Plus the winner of this will face the Nets, and though it’s a gentleman sweep waiting to happen, Russ will be certainly determined to stick it to KD which will be great TV.
On the Celtics' end, they pretty much got a reprieve to this sinking season when Jaylen Brown went down. No one expects them to go far without half of their All-Star duo and questionable health to Kemba Walker and Smart. But that doesn’t mean the chatter around Brad Stevens being on the hottest won’t start up again if they lose are eliminated in the Play-In. Though I don’t believe he should be let go, others have raised the question should be a new voice in the locker room following this miserable season.
But just to end on a positive note, the antics we’re sure to get versus Russ and Smart is going to be fantastic and the scoring battle between Beal and Tatum is going to be even better!
Spurs-Grizzlies
As I said, this matchup is the hardest to call in these games. It’s not going to be a fan favorite but it will probably be a close game throughout. Memphis won the season series 2-1 but we all know playoffs are a different beast and the Spurs have the best coach in this series with the legendary Popovich making his return to the dance.
The Grizzlies are coming off a big loss to the Warriors and will be looking to rebound in this game. Though it felt like Curry was killing them with his big game, they fought back many times throughout. Some keys to this game are going to be the benches who are both top-10 in the NBA in production and the defense of Dejounte Murray on Ja Morant. Ja Morant has struggled from deep all season so he’s going to have to kill on the inside with some action with him and his bigs JJJ and Travis Kelce’s twin. The Spurs aren’t anything great to talk about from deep either, a bottom team in three-point shooing percentage at 23rd. Dillon Brooks could be a game-changer in this game with his defense as long as he stays out of foul trouble.
One last interesting note I think should be heavily considered is Demar becoming a free agent after this season. Signs point to him looking to leave San Antonio and what way to advertise yourself to a team than having a big performance in the tournament, you listening New York?
Warriors-Lakers
Ah, the headliner that is sure to have the highest TV ratings out of all four games. This is another chapter in the LeBron and Steph rivalry. The two have been a part of the last few years of the Finals series and what better way to reignite this feud in a one-game series.
Curry is coming off a season winning the scoring title. He was disrespected last season after his absence due to injury and now he gets to continue to quiet the haters by taking down the Lakers and sending them to a matchup with Spurs or Grizzlies. Andrew Wiggins in his last 10 games is averaging 22.3 points per game and is shooting 51 percent from the field. In games against the guy (GM Bron) that sent him to the Timberwolves, he’s averaged 23 points but has shot great from the field at 55 percent and 48 percent from deep. Draymond will be a factor in this game who also has his history with the King though the two are great friends off the court.
The Lakers had big injuries to their superstar duo that had them fallen to the seventh seed but granted they had 71 days of rest from their finals win to the start of the regular season. This was the most games Bron has missed due to the high right ankle sprain that he looked liked he re-injured during the Lakers season finale:
AD has been up and down since his return as well so a lot of fo pressure is going to be on the Lakers role players to step up. They are one of the worst three-point shooting teams but what they lack in shooting they make up in defense, sitting top three in that category in the NBA.
Adam Silver you lucky gun you may have done it.
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