The NBA regular season ending on Sunday and the playoffs starting next week, so lets take a look at some potential play-in matchups and who could miss the playoffs entirely. Lets start in the Eastern conference with the play-in teams since the top 6 are pretty much set other than seeding. The 7th and 8th seed matchup is Cleveland vs Atlanta. The winner will be the 7th seed and the loser will play the winner of the 9th an 10th matchup between Charlotte and Brooklyn. (The title favorite at the start of the season) With a point differential of 0.0, the Charlotte Hornets are almost a guarantee to lose to the Nets, and the Hawks are likely to beat the Cavs which would leave us with a winner-take-all game between the Nets and Cavs where the Nets likely win. Leaving us with the following matchups:
For the Western conference the field is a little more wide open. For instance the Lakers are still in contention, but barely, if the Spurs win 2 of their last 4 games to eliminate the star studded Lakers. The 6th and 7th seeds are not locked up either with the Jazz and Timberwolves only being separated but 1.5 games. However, we will look at the field the way that it is at the moment. The 7th and 8th seed matchup is Minnesota vs Los Angeles(C) and with Paul George looking great after missing half the season with injury and the potential of Kawhi Leonard returning makes them win this matchup, lock up the 7th seed and potentially compete for a title just like they did last season. The 9th and 10th seed matchup has a bit more drama only because the Pelicans are involved. New Orleans would face San Antonio. The Pels are interesting because of Zion Williamson, if they were to make it past the play-in Zion could potentially return but if he doesn't return the Pels could wave goodbye to him as he will likely be off to New York in the offseason. Either way I think the Pels win but then lose to the Timberwolves making the matchups after the play-in this:
Make sure you tune into the blog on Monday April 11th for my full playoff breakdown and predictions, including the Champion.
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