Who Will Be the 8th Seed in the East and West?

The first four games in the play-in tournament have been completed. The Orlando Magic defeated the Atlanta Hawks 120-95. Orlando begins their series with Boston on Sunday. With the loss, the Hawks will host the Miami Heat on Friday Night with the winner facing Cleveland. Golden State took down Memphis 121-116 to advance to play Houston. With the loss, the Grizzlies will host the Dallas Mavericks with the winner heading to Oklahoma City. Miami advanced to the Friday game by blowing out Chicago on the road. Dallas went to Sacramento and took down the Kings and now they head to Memphis to battle the Grizzlies. The winner of the Memphis and Dallas game will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. My initial play-in picks were half wrong, but let’s see who will be the 8^th seed in the East and West?

Atlanta vs. Miami

Atlanta fell to the Magic on Tuesday night on the road. The Hawks could really use Clint Capel and Jalen Johnson. The Hawks were 2-2 against the Heat this season. Atlanta will need a huge game from Trae Young. Speaking of Trae Young, there’s a lot of speculation about his future with the Hawks franchise. Young is eligible for another extension this summer and I’m sure a lot of teams will be monitoring the situation. Miami entered the play-in tournament dropping four of their last six games. They were impressive in their win on the road against Chicago. Tyler Herro was amazing after finishing with an efficient 38 points. Bam Adebayo will be vital in this game against Atlanta. I’m more confident in the Heat than the Hawks at this point. I’m picking the Miami Heat to get another road win and advance to the playoffs. Miami Win

Memphis vs. Dallas

In the other game, we have the Memphis Grizzlies hosting the Dallas Mavericks for the 8^th seed. The Grizzlies fell to the Warriors in the 7 versus 8 game. Ja Morant and his ankle injury was the big news coming out of this matchup. Will Morant be available for the game tomorrow night? Memphis did beat Dallas in three of their four matchups this past season. One of those games was the season finale when they beat the Mavs by 35 points. Dallas had big games from Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson in their win in Sacramento. If Dallas can get Anthony Davis going early, they have a shot at winning. For Memphis, this will be all about the health of Ja Morant. I’m guessing he’s not going to be 100% tomorrow night, but the homecourt advantage will guide them to the win. Memphis Win

 

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. 8. Miami Heat
2. Boston Celtics vs. 7. Orlando Magic
3. New York Knicks vs. 6. Detroit Pistons
4. Indiana Pacers vs. 5. Milwaukee Bucks

 

Western Conference

1. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. 8. Memphis Grizzlies
2. Houston Rockets vs. 7. Golden State Warriors
3. Los Angeles Lakers vs. 6. Minnesota Timberwolves
4. Denver Nuggets vs. 5. Los Angeles Clippers