Image via Getty/Adam Patozzi
11.
The NBA regular season is over and done with, and the league’s final week didn’t disappoint in terms of drama, storylines and downright f*ckery (more on that in a bit). The top six teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences can kick their feet up for the week before the playoffs start on Saturday, while attention will be focused on the Play-In Tournament. So, with that, we’re going to do something a little different this week and rank the top five teams out of the eight that will be duking it out for the remaining playoff spots.
10.
Even though these teams aren’t considered powerhouses, a few of them have legit chances at shaking things up and pulling off an upset on the top-seeded teams. So, these squads aren’t locks to be bounced out of the first round.
9.
But one team is a lock to start their summer vacation early.
8.
Ah, the Minnesota Timberwolves…
7.
Even though they got a monster performance from Anthony Edwards (26 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, and four blocks) that led to their victory over the New Orleans Pelicans and their eighth seed secured, the levels of implosion during that game will certainly hurt their chances in the Play-In. They could’ve easily been on this list, but let’s face it, the team is plumb dumb for their dysfunction. Between Rudy Gobert swinging on his teammate Kyle Anderson in the first half and being sent home to Jaden McDaniels fracturing his hand after punching a wall (also in the first half!), the T-Wolves don’t have a puncher’s chance in hell getting out of the tournament.
6.
But these teams do.
5.Atlanta Hawks
Despite Trae Young going off against a short-handed Philadelphia squad last Friday with 27 points and an incredible 20 dimes, the Atlanta Hawks still lost in overtime. They followed that up with another loss to the short-handed Boston Celtics, but to be fair, coach Quin Snyder let his starters rest, as well. Still, the Hawks have been mediocre in their final 20 games of the season (10-10), backslid to the eighth seed, and face the seventh-seed Miami Heat in South Beach. During ATL’s middling performance, Young has been a double-double machine. With a 24 and 10 stat line in those 20, he pushed his season average to a solid 26.2ppg and 10.2apg, the first double-double output of his career. Young is only second in the league in dimes to Philadelphia’s James Harden.
We’re well aware that Young can switch it on when the stage is at its brightest, but if the Hawks are going to survive the Play-In, he’ll need his teammates to step it up. Dejounte Murray enters the tournament with a 20-point season average and has almost the same amount of points in his last ten games of the season (19.5). Hawks’ big man Clint Capela is top five in the league in rebounds (11 per game), and the team has a few 3-point marksmen at their disposal in Bogdan Bogdanovic (40.6 percent), Aaron Holiday (40.9 percent) and Frank Kaminsky (47.8 percent).
4.Toronto Raptors
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Raptors, which justifies their 41-41 record. They just managed to break even on their road to the 9th slot in the Eastern Conference and need two W’s to clinch the eighth seed and a probable early exit at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. Thankfully, the Raptors will be home against the Chicago Bulls and former T-Dot fan-favorite DeMar DeRozan for Wednesday’s Play-In Tournament game. Toronto has the edge during the season head-to-head, winning two of their three matchups. Fred VanVleet, during those games, put up 20 points but on a miserable 38.5 percent shooting. In fact, FVV seems to be allergic to efficient shooting putting up the worst percentage (39.3) since his rookie campaign.
Speaking of rookies, the defending Rookie of the Year, Scottie Barnes, hasn’t fared better against Chicago, putting up blah numbers (11 points on 35 percent shooting) in the three games. OG Anunoby was probably the bright spot when it comes down to it, putting up a decent 17.3 points. Still, the key stat is that Pascal Siakam only played one game against the Bulls this season—a 20-point, 8-rebound outing in a February 28th 104-98 victory. In his last ten games, Siakam has put up 24 points, but a paltry 21 percent from three-point land isn’t going to cut it.
The Raptors’ saving grace in this game is Chicago’s lackluster offense. They’re 24th in the league compared to Toronto’s 11th rank.
3.Miami Heat
What a difference a season makes. A year ago, the Miami Heat were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and were a shot away from tying a hotly contested Game 7 to the Boston Celtics on their home court. This year, Miami is seventh and needs to beat the Atlanta Hawks to set up a rematch with the C’s in the first round of the playoffs. They had plenty of opportunities to crack the East’s top-six, but their three straight losses at the end of March to the Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks proved to be their undoing. They did bounce back, winning four of their last five. Jimmy Butler sat out the last two games, but in the three he played, all wins, he averaged 28.7 points, 8.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds.
It was a pretty cool moment to see Udonis Haslem score 24 points on nearly 53 percent shooting and 42 percent from deep in more than likely his last game in a Heat uniform in yesterday’s win against the Orlando Magic. It was even cooler and funny when Haslem was presented with a rocking chair by Bam Adebayo. All fun and games will be put to rest on Tuesday, however, and the team will need the same production that Adebayo has shown against Atlanta (24.5 points, 9 rebounds) this season. Even though the Heat are 3-1 against the Hawks this season, there’s no telling how this will play itself out. The Heat aren’t an offensive juggernaut, ranking 25th in the category, while Atlanta is 7th. If you look closely, that chip on the Heat’s shoulder has grown exponentially, especially when discussing their role as postseason underdogs. That said, activate Playoff Jimmy! They’ll also need to put their 9th best defense to use against Trae Young, who has a knack for showing up and showing out in playoff atmospheres.
2.New Orleans Pelicans
The Pels should be lower on this list solely on the fact they couldn’t capitalize off of the shitshow that took place on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ bench and lost the game and their eighth seed. Their head coach Willie Green shared his frustration after losing 113-108 to a Minnesota team in utter turmoil. Now in ninth, they need two wins to make the playoffs and face the top-seeded Denver Nuggets. But despite the loss, they enter the Play-In winners of ten of their last 15 and their first winning record (42-40) since the 2017-18 season.
Brandon Ingram has been balling and definitely earned himself team MVP status, averaging career highs in points (24.7), assists (5.8) and free throw percentage (88.2). After putting up 42 points and 12 rebounds in yesterday’s loss, Ingram’s ten-game average bumped up to 29 points during the Pelicans’ 7-3 stretch to close out the season. Ingram’s running mate, CJ McCollum, has been solid, too, during those ten games, averaging 20 points and an efficient 42 percent from three.
The Pels rank sixth in the league in defense, so regardless of being in the tournament, they’re no easy out. And at this point, it’s easy to forget that Zion Williamson is on this roster. But, with news that Williamson won’t return from injury for the Play-In, New Orleans is still the betting favorite to win their first Play-In matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Smoothie King Center.
NOLA’s road to playing in their second straight playoffs starts Wednesday.
1.Los Angeles Lakers
The Lake Show has been 18-8 since the trade deadline and mercilessly ending the Russell Westbrook experiment. They also battled their way from a dreadful 2-10 start of the season to a 43-39 winning record, being the fourth team in the NBA’s history to achieve such a turnaround. Nevertheless, resurrecting their winning ways didn’t earn them a top-six spot in the Western Conference, even though they’ve finished the season strong winning eight of their last ten (including 6-1 since LeBron James returned from a foot injury).
And the script to this fairytale season continues to be written because the basketball Gods shined on the purple and gold on Easter Sunday. Not only did The King dominate with 36 points on 52 percent shooting and 57 percent from deep in a decisive win over the Utah Jazz, but the Lakers’ playoff path was made easier because they play against the dysfunctional Minnesota Timberwolves in the Play-In Tournament.
With today’s announcement of Wolves’ big man Rudy “Sucker Punch” Gobert’s suspension from the team, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis should feast on Minnesota’s deprived frontcourt. In the last ten games, Davis has put up over 26 points and 12 boards and shows no signs of slowing down now that the team is at full strength. We’ll also get to see how the legend of Austin Reaves translates in the postseason stage, where the second-year guard is riding a five-game momentum of 20 points per game and ridiculous field goal and three-point percentages of 61 and 52, respectfully. All that’s needed is one win, and Los Angeles would face the injury-riddled Memphis Grizzlies, which could very well be an upset in the making for LeBron and company.