MIAMI (AP) – Getting to the play-in tournament probably wasn’t a team’s goal when training camps reopened in September.
However, it trumps the alternative.
There are currently 12 teams with playoff spots, 10 teams whose season is over – and eight teams with a second chance. The play-in tournament begins Tuesday, with Atlanta to Miami and Minnesota visiting the Los Angeles Lakers, with the winners advancing to the postseason.
Oklahoma City heads to New Orleans and Chicago visits Toronto for elimination games on Wednesday; loser goes home, winner moves on to the loser of Tuesday’s games in another win-or-go-home match.
“You have to embrace this new experience,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “For the old heads in our locker room, all of us have had a long NBA career and haven’t had this opportunity. I think it’s been great for the league. How harrowing this has been, the past six, eight weeks for 16 teams in the West and East. It’s just been great for the competition and overall. It’s been great for the league.”
The NBA added it to boost end-of-season excitement, give more teams hope for the playoffs, and discourage tanking. Dallas still had a shot at the play-in until Friday’s 81st game of the season, when it held off several rotational players and lost. The NBA is investigating the Mavericks’ motivations there and whether Dallas lost to protect draft odds.
The Heat were the No. 1 seed in the East last season and now need the play-in to return to the playoffs. But they may also be playing their best basketball of the season – just like the Lakers, who took a West-best 16-7 after the All-Star break.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position where we can move forward,” said Lakers star LeBron James. “That’s all we can ask for, to enable ourselves to move on. We obviously had a very, very slow start, starting 2-10… to know where we are today, we can be happy with that, but not satisfied.
No team used the play-in tournament – Portland in 2020 in the bubble under a slightly different format; Boston, Washington, the Lakers and Memphis in 2021; Brooklyn, Atlanta, Minnesota and New Orleans last year – to reach the actual playoffs once won a series in the first round.
But it still gives hope, and perhaps a bull’s-eye for those who survive and move forward.
“We are looking forward to it,” said Spoelstra. “Our boys love competition. And a lot is at stake here. And that’s ultimately where you get to know yourself – when something is at stake, when there are consequences.”
FORMAT
Even in year 3 of this format it can still be confusing. This is how it works:
— No. 7 plays No. 8. The winner enters and receives the No. 7 seed for the playoffs. The loser gets a second chance.
— No. 9 plays No. 10. Loser’s season is over. The winner moves on and takes on the loser of the 7 vs. 8 game.
— The remaining teams (the 7-8 loser and the 9-10 winner) play in the higher seed, with the winner getting the No. 8 seed. The loser’s season ends.
– All six games have a team qualifying for the playoffs, or being eliminated, or both.
MATCHES
EAST CONFERENCE
NO. 8 ATLANTA (41-41) ON NO. 7MIMI (44-38)
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., TNT
Season Series: Miami, 3-1
Previous play-in appearances: Hawks went 2-0 to become the number 8 seed in 2022; Heat is in play-in for the first time.
At stake: winner will play Game 1 against Boston on Saturday; loser plays elimination game on Friday.
Outlook: All four games finished relatively close (Heat with 8, Hawks with 8, Heat with 8, Heat with 2). … Miami’s Jimmy Butler averaged 25 points and Bam Adebayo averaged 24.5 in the season series. … Trae Young averaged 19.8 points for the Hawks against the Heat, but was held to 36% shooting and 21% from 3-point range. … Hawks are aiming to become the first team in the play-in era to win three games after going 2-0 last year.
X Factor: Miami’s Caleb Martin shot 64% against the Hawks, averaging 15.8 points and going 8-for-11 on 3-pointers.
NO. 10 CHICAGO (40-42) AT NO. 9 TORONTO (41-41)
Wednesday, 7 p.m., ESPN
Season Series: Toronto, 2-1
Previous play-in appearances: Both teams are playing in the play-in for the first time.
At stake: Winner plays elimination game on Friday; loser is eliminated.
Outlook: Home sides went 3-0 in the season series. … Zach LaVine has averaged 23.5 points vs. the Raptors, while Fred VanVleet averaged 20 points vs. the Bulls. … Toronto did not lead in any of the three games this season vs. Chicago by more than 10 points.
X Factor: Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan has played in Toronto seven times since leaving the Raptors, so he’s dealt with the emotions before — though never in an elimination game at his former home.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
NO. 8 MINNESOTA (42-40) ON NO. 7 LA LAKERS (43-39)
Tuesday, 10 p.m., TNT
Season Series: Minnesota, 2-1
Previous play-in appearances: Timberwolves went 1-0 to become the number 7 seed in 2022; Lakers went 1-0 to rank No. 7 in 2021.
At stake: Winner will play against Memphis in Game 1 on Sunday; loser plays elimination game on Friday.
Outlook: Anthony Davis played against Minnesota twice, scoring exactly 38 points in both games – the Lakers won one, the Wolves won the other. … LeBron James averaged 23 points in two games against Minnesota and shot only 39.5%. …Anthony Edwards had 29 points in Minnesota’s victory over the Lakers in October, then was held to a total of 30 points in two meetings between the clubs in March.
X Factor: The Metabolism involving Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson on Sunday, strengthening or breaking the Timberwolves.
NO. 10 OKLAHOMA CITY (40-42) AT NO. 9 NEW ORLEANS (42-40)
Wednesday, 9:30 p.m., ESPN
Season Series: New Orleans, 3-1
Past play-in appearances: Pelicans went 2-0 to become the No. 8 seed in 2022; Thunder participates for the first time.
At stake: Winner plays elimination game on Friday; loser is eliminated.
Outlook: New Orleans’ three wins over the Thunder were by three, three and four points, but the Pelicans had a 21, 20 and 13 point lead in those games. … New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram played in only one of four games and scored 34 runs in that appearance. … Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 33.5 points against the Pelicans this season, with game highs of 44 and 35.
X Factor: Thunder has nothing to lose except lottery odds. Pelicans were right in this place last year and know what it takes.
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