Ranking the four matchups in the 2023 NBA Play-in Tournament

Four teams in each conference are competing for the ?nal two spots in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

Out East, the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls – in that order – ?nished from seventh to 10th place to square off in the play-in tournament. The winner of Miami-atlanta claims the No. 7 seed, while the loser would play the winner of Toronto-chicago for the No. 8 seed.

The same applies out West, which will feature, in order, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder.

As the action commences in just two days time, let’s rank the four matchups from worst to best factoring in-game matchups and quality of the teams.

4. Chicago Bulls at Toronto Raptors

A team headlined by Demar Derozan, Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic shouldn’t be the No. 10 seed, but the Bulls’ failure to strengthen the roster after being bounced in the ?rst round by Milwaukee last year foreshadowed their fall. Not having Lonzo Ball up to this point or moving forward isn’t ideal, but it’s hard to envision them being a top-six team in the conference as currently constructed, even with Ball.

3. Atlanta Hawks at Miami Heat

The Hawks added Dejounte Murray to +y around the backcourt with Trae Young, but that move hasn’t lifted them up the Eastern Conference ladder like they would’ve hoped. The same applies for the mid-season acquisition of Saddiq Bey from Detroit. Atlanta has hovered around the middle of the pack in several statistical categories, so it makes sense that it ?nished the regular season with a 41-41 record.

Miami is similar to the aforementioned Raptors and Bulls in that it didn’t seek to upgrade the roster after ?nishing the regular season as the No. 1 seed. But Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro all averaged over 20 points per game this year – Herro as a starter – with Max Strus, Victor Oladipo, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent all chipping in over or near 10 points per game off the bench. If the Heat advance, they won’t be a walkover for the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics as the season series ended 2-2. On the other hand,

Boston swept Atlanta 3-0.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder at New Orleans Pelicans

The youngest team in the NBA has quali?ed for the playin tournament, largely due to the Dallas Mavericks’ pairing of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving failing quite drastically. Shai Gilgeous-alexander is the star of the team, but youngsters like Josh Giddey and sophomore Jalen Williams are also rising. Timberwolves Angeles

1. Minnesota at Los Lakers

This is quite easily the best matchup of the bunch. Minnesota is entering the game in a bad state, however, as it is dealing with the drama involving Rudy Gobert punching teammate Kyle Anderson and Jaden Mcdaniels breaking his hand after punching a stadium wall out of frustration. All of this happened in their regular-season ?nale against New Orleans, which lifted them to the No. 8 seed to set this matchup in stone. Anthony Edwards and Karl-anthony Towns will need to be at their best.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have the best record in the conference after the All-star break.