The NBA’s 2021 play-in tournament will tip off on Tuesday night, when the No. 9 Pacers face the No. 10 Hornets in Indiana, followed by the No. 7 Celtics hosting the No. 8 Wizards in Boston.
By the end of the night, one team – either Boston or Washington – will have secured the No. 7 seed, earning a first-round date with the Nets. And one team – either Indiana or Charlotte – will be eliminated from postseason contention altogether.
The Pacers/Hornets matchup would be a little more intriguing if both teams were at full strength. Unfortunately, the Pacers will be without one of their top scorers (T.J. Warren) and are expected to be missing their defensive anchor (Myles Turner) as well. The Hornets, meanwhile, have gotten a little healthier as of late, but still don’t have their $120MM man (Gordon Hayward) available.
That doesn’t mean Indiana and Charlotte can’t play an entertaining game though. LaMelo Ball will be looking to put the finishing touches on a Rookie of the Year caliber season, while Nate Bjorkgren may be coaching for his job. Neither team will want its season to come to an end on Tuesday.
As for the headlining contest of the night, the fact that the Wizards are even involved in this game is pretty incredible. Washington started off the season with a 6-17 record and was 17-32 in early April. Since then, the team has reeled off 17 wins in 23 games, securing the No. 8 spot for the play-in tournament and looking a whole lot more dangerous as of late than the reeling Celtics.
The Celtics made the Eastern Conference Finals last season and entered the year with the aspirations of making another deep playoff run. It has been an up-and-down season in Boston though, and it has been trending down as of late. The C’s finished the season by losing nine of their last 13 games, and their only four wins in that stretch came against sub-.500 teams. With Jaylen Brown out for the season, the club will be shorthanded as it looks to secure a playoff spot.
Still, while the Wizards aren’t missing any top players, Bradley Beal continues to deal with a hamstring injury and isn’t at 100% entering the play-in tournament, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. If the Eastern Conference’s leading scorer doesn’t look like his usual self, it may be an uphill battle for the Wizards to pick up a win in Boston.
We want to know what you think. Which teams will win the two Eastern Conference play-in games on Tuesday? Make your picks in the polls below, then head to the comment section to weigh in on which club will win Thursday’s play-in game to claim the No. 8 seed.
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on Pacers/Hornets.
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on Celtics/Wizards.
Wizards are the best of the Four
Wizards Two starters out
Thomas Bryant out
Advija out
Without two staters, Wizards are still the best of the four
Trading away Daniel Theis for nothing isn’t an upgrade
It’s hard not to be when the bar is so low in the east. There’s just not that much difference between all of the teams 4-12 in the east these days. Parity.
The Wizards are 17-9 in April and May, They not only should bear the Celtics, but they should be irritating for whoever gets them in the first round.
I agree. Everyone is convinced that the Lakers will be the most likely to knock off a top 2 seed, but don’t sleep on the Wizards. Westbrook is playing as good as ever has and Beal is still Beal.
Westbrick’s a joke, don’t be ridiculous. He played much better last season on a team that wasn’t allowing him to stuff his stat sheet.
Now he’s back to being his old self, winning doesn’t matter to him.
Wiz Nets would make for great Tv No doubt !
I agree they’re playing well and could be irritating but I doubt the wiz get more than a game vs sixers or nets.
Nets just much more talented and they just don’t have an answer for embiid, I expect he would dominate. Not to mention Simmons on a banged up Beal doesn’t bode well for the wizards.
Yeah right. Westbrick and friends were dominated by Tatum w/o Jalen Brown’s help. Now they have to get past the Pacers on Thursday.
Pacers mean
A group of people Play slow pace basketball
Hornets won’t sting Pacers
I have already picked “over” for CHA and WAS in HR’s Bovada series and am still happy with those picks. They were put at 26.5 & 34.5 wins and won 33 & 34. HR voters put them over 56% & 49% of the time. Few posters were on either side, though opinions on the Wizards got caught up in the trade with Houston, and they got off to a very slow start. Who else was high on Lamelo & Hornets?— a few home fans and El Don on Ball.
https://www.hoopsrumors.com
66% of HR voters had BOS over 44.5 wins; they won 40. Tatum is a mystery, Brown out. They will likely lose the play-in despite being the #7.
58% of HR voters said IND over 39.5; I said under; they won 34.
For “Checking in on EC race” on Mar.6 I put the Knicks #6, the Hornets #7, and the “Wiz rise” (they were still losing usually) and my Cavs #11.
I was on top of ORL falling but not TOR— they tanked their way out, too proud to be a play-in. I overrated my home team as usual.
Overall gd job x%. The top EC teams are bunched. BRK, MIL, PHL. I forget who wins between Giannis & Embiid.
Woo these polls didnt age well.
Hornets got slammed.
C’s played well