Play-in opportunity giving NBA teams hope
More squads have a chance for postseason
If this season was like most others, Washington, Chicago and Toronto would be pretty much out of the race by now.
The Wizards were 17-32 not that long ago and have not spent one single day over .500 in the last three seasons. The Bulls just had a stretch where they lost 11 out of 14 games. The Raptors started 2-8 and recently had a nine-game losing streak, their worst run in a decade.
And yet, they’re all absolutely in the postseason mix.
The NBA’s play-in tournament is coming, meaning the races toward the bottom of the Eastern and Western Conferences over the final four weeks might be just as compelling as the ones at the top of the standings down the stretch.
Adding four more teams to the postseason equation, as one would expect, opens the have-a-chance floodgates considerably. Again, in normal times, there would be nine teams right now with a realistic chance at securing one of the eight playoff spots in the East, and 10 teams for the eight slots out West. With the play-in, as many as a halfdozen more teams can still say they’ve got a shot.
Some people love the idea. “We’re trying to get in,” New Orleans coach Stan Van Gundy said. Others don’t. “I don’t see the point,” Dallas’ Luka Doncic said last week.
But if the Mavericks are one of the play-in teams — a very real possibility — then Doncic would need to see the point right away. Whether someone likes the idea or not, the notion of needing to go through the play-in round to make the playoffs certainly beats the alternative of not making the playoffs at all.
The premise couldn’t be simpler. The top six teams in each conference are assured spots in the playoffs —
and their biggest reward might be that they’ll all get at least five days to rest before having to play Game 1 of Round 1, which will be a most welcome break after this jampacked regular season.
For the eight play-in clubs, things stay hectic.
The season ends Sunday, May 16. On May 18, the play-ins begin — six games in all, every one of them either sending the winner to the playoffs, the loser home for the summer, or both. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds will get two chances to win one game; the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds must go 2-0 or they won’t make the playoffs.
It has already given teams like the Wizards — a team that was wracked with virus-related issues earlier this season and didn’t play for two weeks while the roster was decimated — plenty of newfound hope.
“I think if we can put a nice little run together, I think we can give ourselves a nice little chance,” Wizards guard Bradley Beal said.
And he freely admits that he’s already scoreboard watching, just to see where the Wizards are in the standings on a moment-to-moment basis: “One-hundred percent,” Beal said.
Tuesday night
KNICKS 109, HORNETS 97: In New York, RJ Barrett scored 18 of his 24 points in the third quarter and New York beat Charlotte for its seventh straight victory.
Barrett’s offense and the Knicks’ defense changed the game after the Hornets scored 66 points in the first half. New York held Charlotte to just 31 after halftime.
Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley each scored 17 points off the bench for the Knicks, who moved into fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They are on their longest winning streak since 2013.
NETS 134, PELICANS 129: In New Orleans, Kyrie Irving capped a 32-point performance with a tough turnaround jumper, a driving layup through converging defenders and four free throws in the final minute, and Brooklyn held on for a victory over reeling New Orleans.
Joe Harris also hit a pair of late free throws to cap his 24-point night for the Nets, who won despite being without Kevin Durant and James Harden.
Zion Williamson scored 33 points and Brandon Ingram added 27 points for the Pelicans.
CLIPPERS 113, TRAIL BLAZERS 112: In Portland, Oregon, Paul George had 33 points, including two free throws with 4.8 seconds left that gave Los Angeles the win.
George also had 11 rebounds for Los Angeles, playing without Kawhi Leonard.
CJ McCollum had 28 points but missed a jumper at the final buzzer for Portland, which didn’t have Damian Lillard for the game.
HAWKS 112, MAGIC 96: In Atlanta, Trae Young scored 25 points, Lou Williams added 22 in his best game since returning to Atlanta and the surging Hawks pulled away in the final period.
The Hawks began the day clinging to the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, which would mean home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Atlanta won for the fifth time in six games to move a step closer to locking up its first postseason berth since 2017.
TIMBERWOLVES 134, KINGS 120: In Sacramento, California, Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and a season-high 18 rebounds, and Minnesota pulled away over the final five minutes and thumped Sacramento.
Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell added 28 points apiece to help the Timberwolves beat the Kings for the second time this season and the first time in front of fans at Golden 1 Center. About 1,600 front-line workers sat alongside cardboard cutouts after California eased its COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month.