The NBA Play-in Tournament is set: What is the best matchup?
With the regular season finished, the dust has finally settled on which teams will be the play-in tournament. The 7-8 seed matchups will be the Timberwolves versus the Lakers in the west and the Hawks v the Heat in the east. As for the 9-10 matchups, the Bulls will take on the Raptors and the Thunder will matchup with the Pelicans. With all these teams fighting for their playoff lives we should expect to see some great basketball but considering the expectations the best matchup has to be the Timberwolves-Lakers game.
Despite the drama that occurred during the Timberwolves season finale where Rudy Gobert was sent home following an altercation with teammate Kyle Anderson they are still a young talented team. The duo of Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony-Towns possibly playing the role of spoiler to the Lakers will make the matchup even more intriguing. As for the Lakers, they have made it through a very up and down season yet still have high expectations given the greatness of their duo in Lebron James and Anthony Davis. This is obviously a must win game for the Lakers as a loss would deal a major blow to their championship expectations. With both teams having a lot on the line considering the moves both teams made both during the season and in the offseason this matchup could easily be the most exciting of any of the play-in games.
Bucks or the field: Who should be favored in the East?
The Milwaukee Bucks lead by their MVP candidate in Giannis Antetokounmpo have been arguably the best team in the NBA all season long and have finished with the best record in the NBA at 58-24. Even more impressively, they did this with one of their best players in Khris Middleton playing just 33 games due to injury. They did all this in a year where the Eastern conference is the strongest it has been in the last several season with 3 other teams finishing with 50+ plus wins. With that said, the Bucks have home court advantage throughout the playoffs but will have a tough road to the finals.
The likely teams standing in their way are the defending eastern champion Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers led by MVP favorite Joel Embiid. Both teams have major championship expectations considering their talent but I believe the favorite should still be the Milwaukee Bucks. Before losing Middleton to injury in the playoffs last year I expected the Bucks to win the east and if they able to remain healthy on this year's playoff run I expect them to win the east. A likely eastern conference finals matchup between the Bucks and Celtics could once again come down to a game 7 which could favor the Bucks since they have homecourt this time around.
Which team would be the best fit for Victor Wembanyama?
For a few NBA teams, the regular season ended in a very unglamorous fashion. However, the possibility of getting arguably the greatest NBA prospect of all time could be in one lucky teams future. The teams with highest odds of getting the first overall pick are the Pistons, Spurs, Rockets Hornets, and Blazers but their are two teams in particular that I feel would be the best fit for uniquely skilled prospect. Those two teams are the Spurs and the Hornets and I will breakdown why.
Starting with the Spurs, they have a great track record of developing international talent and have one of the greatest coaches in NBA history in Gregg Popovich. They are also a team with a great winning culture and could have Wembanyama help start a new era for the franchise as they look to get back to the winning ways of the Duncan era. As for their roster, they have a solid amount of young talent with players such as Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell that could fit well with Wembanyama's varied skillset.
The Hornets are my favorite of all the possible destinations for Wembanyama due to a variety of factors. The primary factor is due to their complicated history with NBA draft as they have not had the #1 overall pick since 1991 where they selected the two time All-Star Larry Johnson. They also had several draft misses such as trading NBA legend Kobe Bryant and a young star in Shai Gilgeous Alexander. Though they have drafted great players such as the Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning and four time All-Star Kemba Walker, Wembanyama could arguably be the most talented player in the team's history if they are able to draft him. Another factor is the fact that though Wembanyama will have impossibly high expectations regardless where he goes having another talented young star in Lamelo Ball will help take some pressure off. Also, pairing the two together could be a tremendous step forward for the future of a franchise still searching for a consistent winning formula.
Game of the week- Lebron James scores a game high 37 points and hits the game winning layup with 27.1 seconds to lift the Lakers over the Jazz on the road in Utah in overtime.
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