By Obadiah Golden
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has an annual play-in tournament, which allows the ninth and 10th seeds to fight for a spot in the playoffs.
The Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and Dallas Mavericks were in the fight to secure a spot in the Western Conference. The Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, and Chicago Bulls were all in the fight to secure a spot in the Eastern Conference.
On April 15, the first game was the Magic vs. the Hawks. Magic was home for this game, and it was a fight for the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Magic were taking over this game in the first half, as they were up by 22 points. The Hawks were able to make it a close game in the 3rd quarter, but a crucial turnover was the end of this run.
Trae Young was ejected, and the Magic capitalized on it. Cole Anthony off the bench contributed 26 points, and Paolo Banchero had 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Their starting center, Franz Wagner, had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Magic claimed the 7th seed and are going against the reigning NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics, in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Next was the Warriors vs. the Grizzlies. Going into this game, Stephen Curry, point guard for the Warriors, had thumb and quad injuries. Jimmy Butler, forward for the Warriors, was dealing with nagging injuries as well. Even with these circumstances, Butler and Curry were both still able to play as the Warriors dominated in the first half, leading by as many as 20 points.
Butler was playing excellently in the first half, as he had 21 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds, and he was playing excellently defensively. The Grizzlies were mounting a comeback as they gained the lead late in the 3rd quarter, going into the fourth. But Ja Morant, their starting guard, injured himself in the 3rd quarter.
Curry decided to come out and play. In the 4th quarter alone, he had 15 points and shot ¾ from the 3-point range. With one minute left, the Grizzlies were only down by three. Curry faked out Scotty Pippen Jr. for a clutch 3-point shot and sealed the game.
Butler finished the game with 38 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Curry finished with 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Butler said a few words about Curry’s performance during the post-conference.
“I think any team has a chance with me on it,” said Butler. “But I know every team has a chance with Steph on it. I get to play Robin. That’s my Batman.”
The Warriors move on to face the Houston Rockets in the first round, and now, after day one of the SoFi Play-in Tournament, the Hawks and Grizzlies are still fighting for a chance in the NBA playoffs.
On April 16, the next round of the play-in tournament, the Bulls, Heat, Kings, and Mavericks were all on the slate to battle it out.
The Bulls and Heat were the first game of the day, determining who would play the Hawks on Friday. The Bulls were able to beat the Heat in their regular season matchups, but in this game, that didn’t matter as the Heat showcased who was indeed the better team. At halftime, the score was 71-41.
Tyler Herro, point guard for the Heat, had 38 points and was on fire from the field. The Bulls were able to cut the lead down to 10, but that was the lowest they were able to get the score. The Heat was able to send the Bulls packing and now are going against the Hawks for the final spot in the NBA playoffs.
The Mavericks and Kings were the second and final games of the day. Anthony Davis was the leader of this team, and he made it known. He finished with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Davis was everywhere defensively, but someone that people worried about was Klay Thompson.
Last year on the Warriors, Thompson shot 0-10 from three, but he made up for it in this game. Thompson dropped 23 points and was 5/7 from the 3-point area. The Kings had help from their two “star” players, as DeRozan had 33 points and Lavine had 20. It wasn’t enough, as the Mavericks moved on to face the Grizzlies for the 8th seed on Friday.
The final day of the play-in tournament finally arrived. There were two games that determined the final standings in the NBA playoffs.
The first game of the day was the Heat vs the Hawks. Heat, coming off a scorching hot victory against the Bulls, was looking to continue that momentum, and it was looking that way. The Heat took a dominant first-half lead. Herro and Bam Adebayo were leading as the score was 62-53.
Young mounted a comeback, and this game ended up going into overtime as Young drove in for a layup to tie the game. In overtime, Davion Mitchell off the bench scored 9 points as he was raining threes. Young tried to carry as he scored 29 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough. The Heat advanced and clinched a spot in the playoffs.
“Just come out in attack mode,” Herro said postgame. “We had a couple of days off since the last game, we really prepared leading up to tonight. Myself, my teammates, and the coaching staff, we were really putting in a lot of work, and it paid off. We got one more to go, job’s not done, just to get into the playoffs.”
The last game of the night was the Mavericks vs. the Grizzlies. Morant, who was injured in the game vs. the Warriors, went into this game ready to try and clinch a playoff spot. Morant scored 22 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals.
“I couldn’t feel it. That’s why I was out there,” Morant said regarding his injury to Yahoo! Sports.
Davis scored 40 points and added 9 rebounds until he was injured; he was constantly getting medical treatment throughout the game. Even with Davis scoring 40, it wasn’t enough. The Grizzlies were just a better team, and the Grizzlies advanced to the playoffs as they won 120-106.
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Photo courtesy of DIRECTV Insider.