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The NBA Play-In Tournament brought some collegiate flavor into its mix with UConn Huskies women's basketball team's superstar Paige Bueckers joining the Miami Heat for a fun interview.
Shared by the team on their X/Twitter page, the clip had Bueckers answering a few questions posed by the team. Miami was quick to pay their respects to the National Player of the Year Finalist in their caption for the video:
"We got one of the biggest college basketball stars in the building."
The first question pertained to her viral photo alongside hit rapper Wocka Flocka, which Paige had shared on her Instagram earlier in the day. She replied:
"Honestly, I just went up and ran up to him and asked for a picture. He didn't recognize me until after I tagged him on the Instagram post and then we kinda chatted it up.We both said we're fans of each other."
The next was more of an inside look at Bueckers, with her being asked to name her current go-to song. She said:
"Go-to song? Lately, it's been a lot of gospel I would say - Praise Him In Advance and Thank You For All by Marvin Sapp."
With her posts on social media – spanning Instagram, X and TikTok – growing increasingly viral along with her own increased popularity, the next question had to do with her favorite trend on the market right now:
"Favorite TikTok trend? Dance. So me and my teammate Ice, we just came here to Miami and did the one where we like jump over something, and then in the next frame, you're in wherever. So we start with Connecticut and we're gonna end up in Miami."
The final question had more of a Gen-Z vibe to it, with the leading scorer on this year's UConn team asked to show off her rizz hands for the camera, which she promptly obliged.
How did Miami fare with Paige Bueckers in their corner?
Despite missing Jimmy Butler, who is out with a torn meniscus for the remainder of the postseason, the Miami Heat were able to put forward a complete performance in a 112-91 domination of the Chicago Bulls.
Miami was led by an incredible defense, which held DeMar DeRozan to just 22 points and MIP candidate Coby White to just 13 (after having scored 42 in the first Play-In game against the Atlanta Hawks). Some timely buckets by Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. meant that it was a comfortable victory for Miami in the end.
Chicago never got going on the offensive end, finishing the game shooting under 40% from the field and just 30% from 3-point territory. Now, the Miami Heat are set to face off against the Boston Celtics, a rematch of back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals.
Who do you think will prevail between the two teams? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
