The Raptors and Heat don’t convince anyone but themselves that a first-round upset is coming: Both teams have talent and veteran experience. I think Edwards is going to get two opportunities and in at least one of them, he’s going to express his frustration at the chaos around him by exploding in the scoring column. With a young team and the stakes peaking, the Thunder turn to him and he puts together a sparkling performance that isn’t quite enough. 8 seed.Īnthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each put up 40+ in a loss: SGA already has a 44-point game against the Pelicans this season, along with a pair of 30+ point games. The Pelicans ride their depth and versatility into the No. The Lakers and Pelicans advance in the Western Conference: The Timberwolves are in a dark place after Rudy Gobert’s meltdown (more on that later) and the Lakers take advantage. The veteran savvy and experience of the Heat and Raptors show through. The Heat and Raptors advance in the Eastern Conference: Trae Young shoots the Hawks out of two games and sends Atlanta into the offseason with even bigger questions about how much they want to tie their future to him. Bear in mind that my NBA predictions are generally terrible and not to be trusted - still here’s how I imagine things playing out. The loser of that game will play the winner of the New Orleans Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 7 seed, with a first-round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies as the prize. In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves play for the No. The loser of that game will play the winner of the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls for the No.

7 seed and a first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics. In the Eastern Conference, we have the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks playing for the No. Today we’re cruising through some predictions for each conference, checking in on the immediate coaching changes (as well as some that could be to come) and unpacking Rudy Gobert’s ill-advised punch thrown at a teammate. The NBA season wrapped on Thursday and our NBA Play-In Tournament matchups are officially set.

We’re covering it all, along with Play-In Tournament predictions. NBA news on the last day of the regular season was highlighted by coaching changes and punches thrown.

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