NBA Play-in: All eyes on Warriors vs Grizzlies, Trae's brilliance

April 16 ------ THE NBA Playoffs are right around the corner and as it was since the 2019-20 season, post-season will officially be ushered in by the play-in tournament. Games start on Wednesday morning in the Philippines, with the tournament determining the final two teams who'll make the playoffs. 

Oklahoma City, Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver, the Los Angeles Clippers, and Minnesota are already assured of their respecitive playoff spots, completing the first to sixth seeds in the Western Conference. The East, on the other hand, will have Cleveland, Boston, New York, Indiana, Milwaukee and Detroit as their first six seeds in the tournament. 

Falling to the seventh-seed even after a late season push, the Golden State Warriors will meet a familiar foe in the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies as the first Western play-in match-up while the ninth-seeded Sacramento Kings take on the Dallas Mavericks. The East will pit familiar foes when the ninth-seeded Chicago Bulls tangle with 10th-seeded Miami Heat, while no. 7 Orlando Magic tangles with the eight-seed Atlanta Hawks. 

FORMAT 

The winner of the battle between seven and eight seeds will take the seventh spot, which means Houston faces the Grizzlies - Warriors winner while awaiting the winner between the Hawks and the Magic is Boston. The loser of those match-ups will face the winner of the 9-10 match-up for the final seed in the playoffs. Top-seeds OKC Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers await the survivors of the playins. 

Source: spin.ph