NBA Play-in Tournament Preview: April 12

Story posted April 12, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Jameson Kramer

The NBA regular season has officially come to a close, and the playoffs are set with the exception of the two spots to be determined by the play-in tournament. This is the first “normal” season in NBA history where they will utilize the play-in tournament, as last season had extremely limited fan attendance.

The NBA came up with the concept in 2020 to help even the playing field with the shortened season due to COVID-19, and it got such good reviews they decided to keep it going forward.

This year's play-in tournament games between the teams that ended the regular season in the seven and eight seed slots will be played on April 12 on TNT.

In the Eastern conference, the seventh-seeded Brooklyn Nets take on the eighth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers for the right to earn the seventh seed and take on the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The Nets are favored in this matchup, but they have been inconsistent all season long. Star player and former NBA Champion with the Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving, is finally able to play every game for the Nets and has made a huge difference thus far, even scoring 60 points in a game a few weeks ago.

Cleveland’s young core has been great all season, but as a team they have very little playoff experience and that could come into play tonight in a big way.

These two teams have just about opposite storylines in every way this season, with the Nets massively underachieving and the Cavs overachieving.

The loser of this game will go on to play the winner of the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern conference playoffs, as well as the right to take on the Miami Heat in a first round series. The Nets and the Hawks are the favorites to fill the final two slots as of now, but the young cores of the Cavs and Hornets can easily make some noise in the post-season.

It’s hard to believe that Kevin Durant and Kyrie will allow the Nets to lose this matchup, as they know a series with the Celtics is much more favorable than with the Heat.

On the Western Conference side of things, the opening games is between the seventh seeded team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the eight seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

The Timberwolves have been consistent all year, led by former number one overall picks, Karl Anthony-Towns and Anthony Edwards. KAT has had an All-NBA type season, and will look to feast down low against the Clippers big men.

The Clippers have been without superstar Kawhi Leonard all season long, and have struggled to recreate their success with him on the court. Paul George will need to be great, and have another role player step up in a big way if they want to pull this off.

The winner of this game will have to play the Memphis Grizzilies in the first round, a daunting matchup for either team.

Although the Grizzlies are great, both teams have massive incentive to win because if they lose and make the playoffs, they will have to take on the best team in the NBA, the Pheonix Suns.

The loser of the opening game will take on the winner of the game on April 13 between the Pelicans and Spurs on April 14 for the final spot in the bracket.

 

Jameson Kramer is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism, to contact him email jek5650@psu.edu