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The play-in tournament is here, folks. Two teams clinched the seventh seed in their respective conferences, and the losers will get another chance in Friday’s win-or-go-home games against the winners of the games that will be played tomorrow (Hornets @ Hawks in the East, Spurs @ Pelicans in the West). I’ll take a look at who came out on top in addition to a look ahead to Wednesday’s games.
Tuesday’s games
Nets 115, Cavaliers 108
The Nets have clinched the seventh seed in the East and will play the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, while Cleveland will face the winner of the Hornets at Hawks game.
This game seemed to be over rather quickly after a 40-20 first quarter in favor of the Nets, and the Cavs got within single digits in the fourth but ultimately couldn’t get it done. Kyrie Irving had a perfect first half with 20 points on 9-of-9 shooting and ended with a team-high 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting (7-of-7 FTs) to go with three boards, 12 assists, one steal, three 3-pointers and four turnovers in 42 minutes. His only three misses were the last three, as he made his first 12 shots to mark the most consecutive makes to start a game for Kyrie (previous high was 10, which he did twice). Kevin Durant wasn’t too shabby himself with a full 25/5/11/2/3 line with one trey and only one turnover in 42 minutes, converting on nine of his 16 shots from the field and all six from the free throw line. Many don’t think “elite defender” when KD comes up in conversation, but he was everywhere tonight and his play on that end of the floor shouldn’t go unnoticed, and his passing was top notch as well. Bruce Brown somehow attempted the most shots on the team with 19 of them, and while he made only eight of those, he still did his thing with 18 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals, two triples and three turnovers in 40 minutes. He’s been massive for this team and very well may be their third best player right now, and Seth Curry is in that conversation but he was miserable with no points on 0-of-4 shooting with two boards, one steal and nothing else besides a turnover in 34 minutes. There’s no way Curry is this bad against the Celtics in the first round, but they could use another weapon like him when defenses inevitably hound Durant and Irving on defense. Andre Drummond scored 16 points (7-of-11 FGs, 2-of-5 FTs) with eight boards, one steal and three turnovers in only 19 minutes of action, and he looked good out there except for some very Drummond-like mistakes (stepping out of bounds, failed behind-the-back pass attempts, etc.). However, Nic Claxton was the center of choice to close the game, and he went for a near double-double of 13 points, nine boards, one assist and five blocks in 29 minutes. He didn’t miss from the field (6-of-6) but went just 1-of-6 from the line, which didn’t come back to haunt the team this time around, but it could in the future. Kessler Edwards and Goran Dragic were mostly non-factors in their limited time, while Patty Mills drained two triples with five random boards and an even more random block in his 17 minutes off the bench.
Darius Garland was nothing less than impressive in the loss, scoring a team-high 34 points on an efficient 13-of-24 clip from the field (5-of-6 FTS), also tallying one board, five assists, two steals, three 3-pointers and six turnovers in 39 minutes. It didn’t seem like he had a ton of help at times with no one else on the team scoring more than 19 points, but the turnovers were an issue as the team committed 15 of them that led to 24 Brooklyn points. Next up in the scoring column was rookie Evan Mobley, who dropped in 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and added seven boards, two dimes, two blocks and three turnovers in 35 minutes. It’s safe to say his ankle his fine, but if he could do even more on offense, that would be huge for Cleveland. Kevin Love was awesome off the bench yet again with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double with three triples and a steal, but much of the other team simply didn’t make their shots which led to the team’s downfall. This list includes Isaac Okoro (scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in 13 minutes), Lauri Markkanen (13 points on 5-of-14 shooting with three steals and a triple in 29 minutes) and Caris LeVert (12/7/7 with three steals but on 4-of-12 shooting). That brings this trio’s shooting mark to 9-of-29 overall, and while some of the other surrounding stats were alright, that many missed shots from three key players against a team like the Nets won’t get it done. With Okoro barely playing, Rajon Rondo got more into the mix with seven points, three boards, nine assists, one trey and three turnovers in 26 minutes, and while he wasn’t super efficient with a 3-of-8 shooting clip, he was immensely better than starter Isaac Okoro. Bickerstaff said earlier on Tuesday that the team would lean on Rondo more, which they definitely did on this occasion, which makes him a decently attractive DFS option for Friday’s game. Finally, Cedi Osman missed all four of his shots and only scored due to his two makes from the line, adding just four boards and an assist in 21 minutes. All things considered, it’s pretty remarkable that Cleveland managed to keep this game close at all, and they’ll be hungry for their matchup with either the Hawks or Hornets a few days from now.
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Timberwolves 109, Clippers 104
The Timberwolves have clinched the seventh seed in the West and will play the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, while Los Angeles will face the winner of the Spurs at Pelicans game.
Anthony Edwards was phenomenal all night, finishing with a team-high 30 points on 10-of-21 shooting (5-of-6 FTs), also adding five boards, two assists, one steal, five triples and two turnovers in 37 minutes. It’s almost still unfathomable that he’s just 20 years old, and an Ant-Man vs. Ja Morant series is going to be an absolute blast. D’Angelo Russell was fantastic as well with an efficient 29/5/6 line with three triples and three steals with just one turnover in 37 minutes, and his point total becomes more impressive when you take into account that he had just a single point after the first quarter of action. He’s not going to shoot 10-of-18 every night as he only shot 41.1% from the field during the regular season, but when he’s on, he’s fun. Karl-Anthony Towns had a nightmarish showing in the win, playing only 24 minutes before fouling out with 7:34 left in the game and ending with 11 points (3-of-11 FGs, 5-of-6 FTs), five rebounds, three dimes, two steals and four turnovers. At least half of his fouls were simply bad decisions and this was a night to forget all around for KAT, who also ended with a team-worst plus/minus of -14. Patrick Beverley was everywhere, and I really mean everywhere, in the victory, and his final 7/11/3/1/1 stat line does no justice to how effective he was in the game. He was more of a menace than usual, which is difficult to envision if you didn’t catch the game, but the emotions got to him after the final whistle and you have to be at least slightly happy for him no matter how much he irritates you. It legitimately looked like he won a championship with the way he was celebrating after the game, and who knows what a playoff Pat Bev (as opposed to a play-in Pat Bev) is going to do to Memphis. Malik Beasley scored 12 points with six rebounds and three triples off the bench and is probably more crucial to this team than many think, while Naz Reid scored just eight points with four boards but was a difference-maker in his extended run with Towns struggling, posting a team-high +17 in just 21 minutes. Jarred Vanderbilt grabbed 10 rebounds with little else, while Jaden McDaniels (six points, three boards and two steals in 23 minutes) was fine off the bench.
I take a small break from the numbers from this game to talk about the fan that tried to glue herself to the court near the end of the first half of this game. I have no answers and infinite questions, and I don’t know how in the world she thought Elmer’s would do the trick. If you have more info, please don’t hesitate to inform me.
Anyway, Paul George scored a game-high 34 points in the tough loss, going 10-of-24 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the line while also contributing seven rebounds, five assists, three steals, six treys and three turnovers in 41 minutes, and the fact that he’s found his groove so quickly after missing much of the season bodes very well for L.A.’s chances on Friday. Reggie Jackson posted a 17/7/5 line with three 3-pointers and five turnovers with nothing else, struggling with a 7-of-18 shooting mark, and he was mostly disappointing in the second half where he was visibly more flustered by Minnesota’s defense. Norman Powell came off the bench again and scored 16 efficient points with three boards, three triples and one steal in 27 minutes, but all other wings besides Marcus Morris (12 points) didn’t do much in the scoring column, with Robert Covington, Nicolas Batum and Terance Mann all combining for just 18 points. Even Ivica Zubac, who ended the regular season with four straight double-doubles, scored just seven points but at least added nine boards with a pair of blocks in 32 minutes, and with the high minute total for Zubac, Isaiah Hartenstein failed to score in his seven minutes off the bench.
A look ahead to Wednesday’s games
Hornets (10) @ Hawks (9)
The victor of this game will get a matchup with the Cavs on Friday, and the winner of that one gets the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hawks are 5.5-point favorites (odds via PointsBet), which makes some sense given their success in the last postseason, but things weren’t always pretty for them at times throughout the regular season. On Atlanta’s side, John Collins (foot/finger) has already been ruled out, but has reportedly progressed to playing 4-on-4 — for what it’s worth, Hawks coach Nate McMillan initially said “we’ll see” if Collins plays Wednesday, only for him to be ruled out a few hours later. Danilo Gallinari should continue to start for as long as JC is in street clothes, with Lou Williams (lower back discomfort) being the second and final player on their side of the injury report. For Charlotte, it’s just Gordon Hayward (left foot soreness) that’s out, and they may have rushed him back when he played on April 2 since he missed the final four games of the regular season after that. It’d be huge if he could come back if the Hornets make it anywhere, but he doesn’t appear to be progressing the right way.
Spurs (10) @ Pelicans (9)
Whoever wins this game will face the Clippers on Friday, and just like the East, the winner of that one will get the last spot in the Western Conference playoffs with the loser packing their bags for the offseason. The Pelicans are 5.5-point home favorites, and they’re probably thrilled that Brandon Ingram (right hamstring rightness) has already been ruled in after missing his final three games of the regular season. Zion Williamson (right foot fracture) and Kira Lewis Jr. (right knee ACL/MCL sprain) are of course sidelined, and that wraps up New Orleans’ side of things in terms of injuries. For the Spurs, Doug McDermott (right ankle sprain) remains out and we won’t see him unless the Spurs make some sort of insane run, while Romeo Langford (right hamstring tightness) is probable, which doesn’t affect much. Lastly, Lonnie Walker (back) missed Sunday’s finale but is ready to roll for Wednesday, and he’ll provide his usual scoring spark off the bench with the team nearly fully healthy.
Other news
– Luka Doncic’s MRI confirmed a left calf strain, but he doesn’t have a set timetable for a return -The calf strain was already confirmed on Monday, and the lack of timeline appears to be a way to keep the Jazz guessing ahead of Game 1 on Saturday. It would be a shame if he couldn’t play, but virtually everyone will have to step up if Luka can’t suit up. Neither Jalen Brunson or Spencer Dinwiddie would lack for touches if that’s the case.
– Stephen Curry (foot) is considered questionable for Saturday’s Game 1 – Chef Curry hasn’t played since mid-March, and the team announced a statement on Tuesday that he remains a close call to play in Game 1 on Saturday. Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson will continue to feast if Steph has to miss this one, but with him going through some individual on-court work and presumably returning to practices soon, hopefully that means Game 2 is far more likely than not if Curry doesn’t play in Game 1.
– Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso practiced in full on Tuesday – LaVine (knee) didn’t play in the season finale against the Timberwolves, while Caruso (back) failed to appear in the final three games. The statuses of both these guys will have a massive impact on the chances of Chicago’s success against the Bucks, but we should hear more in the coming days before Game 1 on Sunday.