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The Eastern Conference Play-in Tournament cast was finally completed on Friday night with the Miami Heat’s loss to the Washington Wizards. Miami, who gets the seventh seed, will join the Atlanta Hawks (8th), Toronto Raptors (9th) and Chicago Bulls (10).
Miami was still in contention for the sixth spot held by the Brooklyn Nets before their defeat to the Wizards. Brooklyn only needed to win one of their last two remaining games or a Heat loss to get through.
The Heat lost 114-108 to the Wizards while the Brooklyn Nets were still playing in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic. Erik Spoelstra’s team, which reached the conference finals last year, will have to punch their playoff ticket via the Play-in Tournament.
The Miami Heat (7th) and the Atlanta Hawks (8th) will have a first crack at the playoffs
On Apr. 11, the Miami Heat will take on the Atlanta Hawks. The winner will automatically make it to the playoffs as the 7th seed and will face the reigning Eastern Conference champs, the Boston Celtics.
The loser will host the winner of the battle between the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls.
The Heat have the home-court advantage but the Hawks have beaten them three times this season. A cause for concern for Miami will also be the health of veterans Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry.
All three have been banged up but should be ready for the Play-in Tournament as they are done with the regular season. The trio will have roughly three days of rest before the big matchup against the Hawks.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Hawks have had quite a disappointing season. They traded for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray but will finish with a worse record than last year’s team.
The Hawks, though, found their stride just in time to compete in the Play-in Tournament. Murray, Trae Young, Clint Capela, John Collins and De’Andre Hunter look healthy and ready.
Atlanta has a deep and well-balanced lineup. The game against the Miami Heat promises action from one end to the other right from the start.
The Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls will have to win twice in the Play-in Tournament to gain a playoff spot
On Apr. 12, the Toronto Raptors will battle the Chicago Bulls to stay alive in the Play-in Tournament. The loser gets a long offseason while the winner will face the loser of the Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks game on Apr. 14.
Chicago’s task is a little more difficult than that of Toronto’s as the Bulls have to win twice on the road to advance to the playoffs.
Toronto holds the edge in the head-to-head matchup against Chicago, winning 2-3 games. The battle promises to be fairly even as both sides should be able to field their best players.
The Raptors will have Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl. Chicago will counter with DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso, Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Beverley.
The Bulls have had a disappointing season despite their star-studded lineup. They earned an outright spot in the playoffs last year but will have to return to the postseason via the Play-in Tournament.
