NBA Play-In Preview: Tight duels on deck for seventh seed
Two win-and-you’re-in games kick off the NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday. Here’s a look at the four teams trying to lock up playoff spots on the opening night of the post-season.
Like the first couple buds blooming on the end of branches or hints of pollen itching at your nose, the NBA’s Play-In Tournament is here to remind you that winter is over and that the playoffs are right around the corner.
Starting things off — with a playoff spot and a matchup against the No. 2 seed from each conference on the line — are the win-and-you’re-in, seven-seed games on Tuesday.
In the East, the resilient Orlando Magic are set to take on Play-In regulars Atlanta Hawks for a chance to face off against the Boston Celtics. (What a prize.)
Meanwhile in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors take on the Memphis Grizzlies as they look ahead to a series against the No. 2 Houston Rockets, a matchup either team may fancy.
Here’s a quick look at the two matchups set to determine the seventh seed in each conference.
Eastern Conference: (7) Orlando Magic vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET
Season Series: Tied 2-2
Feb. 10: Hawks 112, Magic 106
Feb. 20: Magic 114, Hawks 108
April 8: Magic 119, Hawks 112
April 13: Hawks 117, Magic 105
Pulse on Magic
Hampered by a tediously unproductive offence and a series of freak injuries, the Orlando Magic have fallen short of pre-season expectations. They have the fourth-worst offence in the league, coming in with a lethargic 109.4 offensive rating.
The Magic play a prehistoric style, incapable of keeping pace in the modern NBA. They shoot an abhorrent 31.7 per cent from three-point range — far and away the worst in the Association — and are league average or worse from nearly everywhere else.
Despite the obvious struggles, there are still ways for the Magic to overcome their issues, particularly in the form of the Paolo Banchero–Franz Wagner tag team and a strong defensive core.
Banchero has been stellar over his last 20 games, averaging 29.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists while shooting 49.2 per cent from the field and 35.2 per cent from three-point range. And though Wagner has tailed off over that same stretch, averaging 22.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists, flashes of his scoring talent remain prominent.
Any game Orlando wins will have to come on the back of its defence, but the Magic will lean heavily on Wagner and Banchero, hoping they score just enough to edge out Atlanta for a second straight playoff appearance.
Pulse on Hawks
Come here often? For the fourth year in a row, the Hawks are back in the Play-In Tournament fighting for their playoff lives.
Though the setting is all too familiar at this point, this Hawks team — though still reliant on Trae Young — is somewhat unlike the ones of old. The new iteration, littered with a plethora of ball-hawking defeners and off-ball perimeter players, doesn’t need to play above the rim to get its buckets.
That’s perhaps a necessity with injuries to guys like Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela, but the Hawks have found an offensive rhythm of late letting their wings pour in open buckets from range after Young sets the table.
On the other end, keeping the defence above the water and working as the league’s best point-of-attack disruptor is Dyson Daniels, who is leading the league with 3.0 steals per game and set the highest single-season mark in the 21st century with 229.
If Daniels can be disruptive enough at the point of attack, and if Young and his league-leading 11.6 assists per game can keep the offence pushing, the Hawks could be on their way to their third qualification through the Play-In.
X-Factor: Zaccharie Risacher, Hawks
With the Hawks’ new focus on the perimeter rather than the pick-and-roll, the big benefactor of late has been Zaccharie Risacher. The former first-overall pick has picked up the pace over the latter half of the season, averaging 14.6 points on 49.8-per-cent shooting from the field and 40.7 per cent from three-point range since the All-Star break.
More than that, he’s done his damage without having to create, as he’s getting the majority of his points without taking a dribble (shades of Klay Thompson, anyone?). The Frenchman is take 63.9 per cent of his shots this season on zero dribbles and has a 57.4 effective field goal percentage on those looks.
Against a pesky defence like the Magic, the ability to get quick shots off following off-ball actions will be important, and Risacher is the key.
Western Conference: (7) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies, 10 p.m. ET
Season Series: Warriors lead 3-1
Nov. 15: Warriors 123, Grizzlies 118
Dec. 19: Grizzlies 144, Warriors 93
Jan. 4: Warriors 121, Grizzlies 113
April 1: Warriors 134, Grizzlies 125
Pulse on Warriors
With the Western Conference this loaded, the playoff race came down to a roll of the dice. Golden State just happened to fall on the wrong side in the last week of the season.
They suffered two gutting defeats in the final week: One courtesy of a buzzer-beater from ex-Warrior Harrison Barnes and the San Antonio Spurs, and another on the final day in an instant classic against the Los Angeles Clippers in a final jockey for standings supremacy.
All looked bright when the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline as they cruised to a 21-4 record and seemed like a legitimate threat to add one more title to their dynastic decade.
Though the Warriors suddenly lost their mojo along with that guaranteed playoff spot, a team with as much experience as them should never be counted out. With playoff risers like Steph Curry and Butler leading the charge and potential defensive player of the year Draymond Green holding down the fort on the other end, a high-pressure, single-elimination game seems right up their alley.
A bad stretch doesn’t eliminate just how successful the Warriors have been since the deadline, but it also isn’t the momentum you want to be carrying into the post-season. And as the Grizzlies come to town — a team well-versed in getting opponents riled up — the Warriors will want to be in the best headspace possible.
Pulse on Grizzlies
Having a head coach well-versed in game-planning and preparing for a winner-take-all game would sure be great right now if you’re the Grizzlies, but they put themselves in this position and have an intense showdown with the Warriors to show for it.
Since firing coach Taylor Jenkins, the Grizzlies are 4-5 and are the definition of a middling team, thanking their lucky stars that the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks are still far below them in the standings
Despite the lack of team success, Ja Morant has been able to elevate his game under the new coaching staff, averaging an explosive 28.4 points on 48.1 per cent from the field and 37.9 per cent from three, but it’s come at the expense of Jaren Jackson Jr. who is down to 20.1 points on an inneficient 43.8 per cent since Jenkins’ firing.
The choice to part ways with a head coach only two weeks from the end of the season was always a suspect one. The organization may have hoped for a jolt, giving the players extra incentive to push for a guaranteed playoff spot, but for the time being the decision looks to have backfired.
How they fare in this matchup could determine whether or not the move was a necessary sacrifice or if it was the first of many to come in the off-season.
X-Factor: Brandin Podziemski, Warriors
The best player in the final 10 games for the Warriors wasn’t Curry or Butler, it was the confident do-it-all wing Brandin Podziemski, who averaged 17.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting a blistering 48.5 per cent from deep on 6.8 attempts per game.
The second-year stud has had an up-and-down year, fighting through a plethora of injuruies and a fluctuating role, but he’s managed to cement his spot in the starting lineup to great effect, upping his three-point efficiency to 39.2 per cent from 33.9 per cent in starts.
He’s also developed an impressive mid-range scoring touch this season, giving the Warriors offence another dimension inside the arc alongisde Butler that they’ll surely hope to leverage against a Grizzlies team that loves hounding shooters at the perimeter.
If Podziemski can stay hot, coupled with the always dangerous Curry and Butler, the Warriors may just have too many options for a Grizzlies team still reeling with injuries to key wing defenders.
