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Poll: Who Will Win Friday’s Play-In Games?

April 19th, 2024 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

If the Heat and Pelicans were fully healthy entering Friday’s play-in games, they’d likely be considered solid home favorites. Instead, both teams will be without their leading scorers, with Jimmy Butler sidelined for Miami due to an MCL sprain and Zion Williamson on the shelf for New Orleans as a result of a hamstring strain.

The injuries to Butler and Williamson don’t necessarily mean that the Heat and Pelicans won’t win and advance on Friday, but they’ve created a sense that anything could happen in either one of the remaining play-in games.

The Heat are still considered two-point favorites over the Bulls, per BetOnline.ag, which makes sense — Miami got used to playing without Butler this season, going 13-9 in games he missed, and Chicago has plenty of injury issues of its own. Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams are among a handful of Bulls players who are out for the season, while Alex Caruso‘s availability is up in the air due to an ankle injury.

Of course, Butler isn’t the only notable Heat player who will miss Friday’s game. Josh Richardson is out for the season following shoulder surgery and Terry Rozier continues to be affected by a neck injury.

The Heat/Bulls outcome will come down to which team’s healthy players step up in a win-or-go-home situation. Chicago’s starters did just that on Wednesday, with Coby White scoring a career-high 42 points while DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, and Ayo Dosunmu combined for another 65. If Caruso can’t go, the Bulls will have to lean more heavily on reserves ike Jevon Carter, Torrey Craig, and Javonte Green for defensive purposes to complement those offensive weapons.

The Heat, meanwhile, will be looking for more from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Adebayo had just 10 points in Wednesday’s loss to Philadelphia, and while Herro had 25 points and nine assists, he also missed 18 shots from the floor and turned the ball over five times.

In New Orleans, Williamson is the only player on the injury report, but he’s not the team’s only injury-related concern. Brandon Ingram has been back in action for just two games following a multi-week absence due to a knee injury and hasn’t looked 100% since returning — he didn’t play the final 7:38 of Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers.

The Pelicans have a deep roster featuring a plethora of talented two-way contributors, and they went 5-0 vs. the Kings this season, including a win last Thursday. But if Williamson is out and Ingram is hampered, it could be an uphill battle for New Orleans against a feisty Sacramento team that is currently a 1.5-point favorite, according to BetOnline.ag.

While Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox are the stars and both played well on Tuesday vs. Golden State, the Kings are extra dangerous when they’re getting major contributions from players like Keegan Murray, Harrison Barnes, and Keon Ellis, who combined to score 64 points against the Warriors. Ellis was especially active on defense, racking up three blocks and three steals — Sacramento was +27 during his 39 minutes.

We want to know what you think. Will the Heat and Pelicans hang on at home and give their injured stars a chance to try to make it back before the end of round one? Or will we see a pair of road teams pull off victories on Friday and claim the No. 8 seeds in their respective conferences?

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your predictions for Friday’s games!

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Injury Notes: Giannis, Butler, Bulls, Pelicans/Kings

April 19th, 2024 at 7:20am CST by Luke Adams

After Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that the Bucks are preparing to be without Giannis Antetokounmpo for the start of their first round series against Indiana, Shams Charania of The Athletic confirmed on Thursday on Stadium’s Playoff Preview show (Twitter video link) that the star forward’s status “is still in doubt” for the series.

“He has been rehabbing daily with that strained calf, getting treatment,” Charania said. “He has had even some stationary workouts on the court, but he is doubtful to start the series. I’m told this injury could be anywhere from two to four weeks, potentially. We know his superhuman ability, but that clearly puts his status for this series in jeopardy.

“The Bucks (and) Giannis have to have some level of caution in being careful with this calf injury. Already this season, Giannis has had Achilles tendinitis, a hamstring injury as well, and now this calf strain. The last thing (they) would want is for him to get back, rush on the floor with a calf injury, not being 100% and then potentially tweaking that or leading to even worse injuries.”

Crucially, Charania didn’t clarify whether or not the two-to-four-week timeline he cited applies retroactively — Antetokounmpo has been sidelined since April 9 as a result of the injury, so he has already been out for 10 days. Assuming the projected recovery timeline described by Charania began on the date of the injury, the two-time MVP still has a chance to play at some point in round one.

Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:

  • Jimmy Butler‘s agent Bernie Lee took exception with Thursday’s reports that his client would miss several weeks as a result of his knee injury, suggesting that they were premature, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald relays (via Twitter). “We’re going to see the doctor later today,” Lee said on Thursday afternoon, “and it just blows my mind that somebody that wasn’t in the arena has somehow come up with a medical timeline of something that literally four of us, one is the person that got hurt, and me, the person that has conversations with everything, that everything gets filtered through. We don’t even know and now we’re having to live in someone else’s created reality of you know something that I didn’t know.” The Heat subsequently confirmed that Butler had sustained an MCL sprain, though the team didn’t offer any sort of timeline beyond ruling him out for Friday’s play-in game. MCL sprains are typically multi-week injuries.
  • Bulls role players Alex Caruso (left ankle sprain), Ayo Dosunmu (right quad contusion), and Andre Drummond (left ankle sprain) have all been listed as questionable for Friday’s play-in game vs. Miami. Dosunmu and Drummond, who were also both listed as questionable for Tuesday’s contest, seem like relatively safe bets to play, while Caruso is expected to be a game-time decision.
  • There are no surprises on the Pelicans/Kings injury report for Friday, though the absences on each side are notable. Zion Williamson (left hamstring strain) is the only New Orleans player sidelined, while Sacramento is missing Malik Monk (right knee sprain) and Kevin Huerter (left shoulder surgery).
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Southwest Notes: Ingram, Thompson, Lively, Jackson Jr.

April 18th, 2024 at 10:42pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Brandon Ingram‘s outing against the Lakers in Tuesday’s play-in loss was just his second since returning from a bone bruise that forced him to miss 12 games. Ingram was pulled from that loss with 7:38 to go in the fourth quarter and didn’t return, finishing with 25 minutes of game time.

“I just liked the group that was on the floor at the time,” head coach Willie Green said. “B.I. is still getting back. Still getting his rhythm. So I didn’t want to force the issue. I liked the group that was going.”

However, as NOLA.com’s Christian Clark observes, the Pelicans are going to need to rely on Ingram more in Friday’s play-in outing against the Kings. Zion Williamson, who scored 40 points in the loss, was ruled out with a hamstring injury he suffered near the end of Tuesday’s game.

The Pelicans saw most of their success on Tuesday with a bench-heavy lineup centered around Williamson. Meanwhile, Ingram finished with 12 points while CJ McCollum had just nine. As Clark writes, if Williamson didn’t get hurt, Green may have finished the game without either Ingram or McCollum on the floor. The Pelicans were outscored by 3.2 points per 100 possessions with Williamson, Ingram and McCollum sharing the floor this season.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

  • The Magic have previously been mentioned as a potential suitor for unrestricted free agent Klay Thompson. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Mavericks are another team worth monitoring as a landing spot for Warriors‘ the five-time All-Star. Thompson had his worst shooting night of the season in the play-in against the Kings, missing all 10 of his shots. However, as Amick writes, he’d been playing better toward the end of the season, averaging 21.8 points on 41.6% shooting from deep in the 10 games after getting his starting job back.
  • Dereck Lively II‘s status for Game 1 against the Clippers on Sunday is still in the air, but he went through practice on Tuesday and appeared to be moving well, Mavs.com’s Eddie Sefko reports. Lively, who has been out since March 31 after averaging 8.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in his rookie season, pairs with Daniel Gafford to provide a one-two punch for the Mavericks at the center position.
  • The Grizzlies are looking to add more size to their rotation next season after shipping Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman out in separate deals this season. However, as Grind City Media’s Michael Wallace writes, they’re not yet committed to playing Jaren Jackson Jr. to strictly one position. “I like seeing Jaren out there at [power forward] more, with another big man, and then me coming off the bench,” teammate Brandon Clarke said. “That was kind of how it was the past four years. But we just really got to get healthy first. And we’re going to get a good pick in the draft. So, I trust the front office with what they choose. But sounds like we need somebody big and somebody strong down there for us.“
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NBAGL All-League, Defensive, Rookie Teams Announced

April 18th, 2024 at 4:27pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA announced all of the major All-NBA G League teams on Thursday (All Twitter links found here), including the First Team, Second Team, Third Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Rookie team.

Several current and former NBA players are among the honorees. Here is the full list of winners for the 2023/24 season.

All-NBA G League First Team:

All-NBA G League Second Team:

All-NBA G League Third Team:

G League All-Defensive Team:

G League All-Rookie Team:

* Denotes two-way contract

^ Denotes standard contract

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Pelicans’ Zion Williamson Out At Least Two Weeks With Hamstring Strain

April 17th, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

1:30pm: After undergoing an MRI, Williamson has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, according to the Pelicans (Twitter link). He’ll be reevaluated in approximately two weeks, meaning that he’ll remain sidelined well beyond Friday’s play-in game if New Orleans advances.

12:51pm: Star forward Zion Williamson will be unavailable for the Pelicans when they host the Kings on Friday in the Western Conference’s final play-in game, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Williamson exited Tuesday’s game, a Pelicans loss to the Lakers, with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter due to an apparent left leg injury. Subsequent reporting suggested Williamson was dealing with a left hamstring ailment, which Wojnarowski confirms.

According to Woj, Williamson will be evaluated again in the “coming weeks.” That wording suggests that the former No. 1 overall pick wouldn’t be available to open round one of the playoffs if New Orleans defeats Sacramento on Friday.

It’s a brutal blow for the Pelicans, who were one win away from securing the No. 6 seed in the West and avoiding the play-in tournament altogether. However, they couldn’t beat the Lakers on Sunday, and that lost forced them to face the Lakers again on Tuesday in the No. 7 vs. 8 play-in game.

Williamson, who was coming off the healthiest season of his five-year NBA career (he started 70 games), had a huge night on Tuesday before injuring his hamstring, racking up 41 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to keep the Pelicans in the game. It was tied at 95 when he checked out, but Los Angeles pulled out the 110-106 victory.

Tuesday’s game was the first time Williamson had played in the postseason at the NBA level. He missed the team’s two play-in games and first-round series in 2022 and was also on the shelf for its lone play-in game in 2023.

Williamson’s fellow star forward Brandon Ingram returned on Sunday from a left knee bone bruise, but doesn’t appear to be at 100% — he logged just 25 minutes on Tuesday and New Orleans was outscored by 16 points when he was on the court. With Williamson unavailable and Ingram not operating at full strength, the Pelicans are in danger of missing the playoffs entirely for a second straight year.

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Zion Williamson Leaves Pelicans’ Play-In Game With Leg Soreness

April 17th, 2024 at 6:13am CST by Dana Gauruder

APRIL 17: Williamson is believed to have suffered a left hamstring injury, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Pelicans star wasn’t walking with a limp when he exited the arena on Tuesday, notes Will Guillory of The Athletic (via Twitter).

APRIL 16: Zion Williamson left the Pelicans’ play-in game against the Lakers during the fourth quarter on Tuesday with what coach Willie Green described as “left leg soreness,” ESPN’s Andrew Lopez tweets. Williamson will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.

The Pelicans lost to the Lakers 110-106 and will need to win on Friday to grab the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Williamson made a tying basket with 3:19 remaining with a drive into the lane. However, he felt pain in his leg immediately after scoring and had to be removed after that play. The former No. 1 overall pick went to the bench briefly, then slammed a towel onto the floor while retreating to the locker room.

Williamson had played arguably the best game of his career until that point, pouring in 40 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing five assists in 36 minutes.

Williamson, whose career has been marred by injuries, appeared in a career-high 70 games this season. He averaged 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per night.

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Atlantic Notes: DiVincenzo, Embiid, Melton, Nets, Bridges

April 16th, 2024 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks swingman Donte DiVincenzo is one of several notable players who will be ineligible for end-of-season awards this season despite playing in far more than 65 games, as James Herbert of CBS Sports observes. DiVincenzo appeared in 81 games this season, but technically didn’t meet the NBA’s 65-game criteria.

As we outlined in our glossary entry on the NBA’s new 65-game rule, a game only counts toward the 65-game minimum if the player logged at least 20 minutes. A player is also permitted to play 20+ minutes in just 63 games as long as there were at least two additional games in which he played 15+ minutes.

DiVincenzo played 20+ minutes in 62 games and logged at least 19 minutes in seven more, including one in which he played 19:51. If he had reached the 20-minute threshold in one of those games, he would’ve been award-eligible, but he just missed out. The Knicks wing would have been included on Most Improved Player ballots from multiple voters, including JJ Redick, who took to Twitter to express displeasure with the rule.

As Herbert points out, DiVincenzo’s teammate Isaiah Hartenstein is another player who might have received award consideration but is considered ineligible despite appearing in 75 games, since he played 20+ minutes in just 50 of those contests. Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, another Most Improved candidate, played in 74 games but had 20+ minutes in just 61 of them, so he’s also ineligible.

Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas (82 starts), Mavericks wing Derrick Jones (76 games, including 66 starts), and Clippers swingman Terance Mann (71 starts) likely wouldn’t have been serious candidates for any awards, but they’re a few of the other players who paradoxically failed to meet the 65-game criteria due to the nature of the rule. For what it’s worth, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) says he would have put Jones on his All-Defensive Second Team if he could have.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the Sixers are once again entering the postseason with questions about the health of Joel Embiid, who sat out Sunday’s regular season finale and has played just five games since returning from knee surgery. However, Embiid is on track to play in Wednesday’s play-in game. He practiced on both Monday and Tuesday, per head coach Nick Nurse; 76ers guard De’Anthony Melton (back) did not (Twitter links via Kyle Neubeck and Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports).
  • After a disappointing season in Brooklyn, the Nets‘ roster figures to undergo an overhaul this summer, and the players who finished this season with the team are bracing for that possibility, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I don’t think (any) of my years in the league I had the same team two years in a row,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “Even if you win, teams still make moves, so I can only imagine how this summer’s gonna be.”
  • Nets forward Mikal Bridges admitted that it was a challenge to maintain a positive outlook during a “really tough” season and said that working on “being better mentally” will be one of his goals for this offseason, Lewis writes for The New York Post. He pointed to a December 27 loss to Milwaukee in which the Nets rested most of their regulars and the disappointing road trip that followed as low points. “The Milwaukee game and losing on that road trip, that was tough. I think that was a part of it. That didn’t help. For the players, I know that I was pretty hurt from that, I was pretty pissed off about that situation,” Bridges said. “That’s just part of it. I think I’ve failed at that part mentally. I was doing pretty good mentally, but I didn’t do a pretty good job of that this year. I let my emotions get to me.”
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Poll: Who Will Win Tuesday’s Play-In Games?

April 16th, 2024 at 7:13am CST by Luke Adams

It has been a fiercely competitive race for the postseason in the Western Conference, where it took 50 wins to clinch a top-six seed while Sacramento and Golden State were unable to secure more than a spot in the lesser play-in game after racking up 46 victories.

[RELATED: NBA’s Play-In Field, Top-Six Playoff Seeds Set]

The Rockets’ fate this season epitomizes just how tough the path to the playoffs was in the West — at 41-41, Houston didn’t come particularly close to earning a play-in spot, ending up five games behind the No. 10 seed. But the Rockets finished comfortably ahead of the East’s bottom two play-in teams, with a full five-game cushion over the No. 10 Hawks.

This is a roundabout way of saying that while two good teams will be sent home this week, we should be in store for a terrific week of play-in games in the Western Conference, starting with a pair of matchups on Tuesday that could go either way.

In the early game, the No. 7 Pelicans will host the No. 8 Lakers for the second time in three days. The results of Sunday’s contest weren’t particularly encouraging for the Pelicans, who could have clinched the No. 6 seed in the West with a victory, but trailed all afternoon en route to a 16-point loss.

It was the third time in four games this season that New Orleans lost to Los Angeles, and none of those games were particularly close. Back in December, the Pelicans were blown out by the Lakers by 44 points in an embarrassing performance on a national stage in the in-season tournament semifinal.

Still, this is a talented Pelicans team that did beat the Lakers by 20 points in the clubs’ other game in New Orleans at the end of December. The Pelicans were above-average on both ends of the courts this season, ranking 11th in offensive rating and sixth on defense for a +4.6 overall net rating that was the No. 6 mark in the NBA. By comparison, the Lakers were just 15th in offensive rating and 17th on defense, for an overall +0.6 net rating (No. 19 in the league).

The Pelicans also have the cleaner injury report for Tuesday’s game, with all of their players available. However, Brandon Ingram has only been back from a knee injury for one game and wasn’t at his best on Sunday — New Orleans was outscored by 28 points during his 23 minutes of action.

The Lakers, meanwhile, will be missing Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) and Christian Wood (knee), while Anthony Davis (back) and LeBron James (ankle) are listed as questionable and probable, respectively. While Davis and James have been banged up in recent weeks, they’ve been very effective when they’ve played, and it’s a safe bet they’ll be suiting up on Tuesday.

One interesting wrinkle in this No. 7 vs. 8 matchup is that the winner earns a date with the defending-champion Nuggets in round one, while the loser will host a do-or-die play-in game on Friday for the right to face the upstart Thunder. While Oklahoma City would be the more favorable matchup, it seems safe to assume neither team will get too cute with Tuesday’s game — no one’s tanking in the postseason, and a victory in a second play-in game is hardly assured.

The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag view the Pelicans/Lakers game as a toss-up, listing it as a straight pick-em. That’s not the case for the No. 9 vs. 10 game, where the visiting Warriors are 3.5-point favorites over the Kings in Sacramento.

Home underdogs aren’t especially common in the NBA playoffs, but it’s easy to understand why bettors would favor Golden State. The Warriors are an experienced, battle-tested club still headed by the core players – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – who have led the franchise to four championships since 2015.

The Dubs also beat the Kings in the first round of last season’s playoffs as a lower seed and have been the hotter team as of late. Golden State enters Tuesday’s play-in game having won 10 of its last 12 games, whereas Sacramento has been reeling in recent weeks. Once well positioned to push for a top-six spot, the Kings lost seven of 11 contests to wrap up their season, with three of their four victories during that stretch coming against lottery teams.

The Warriors are the healthier of the two clubs too. They’re missing Gary Payton II due to a left calf strain, but have more than enough depth to make up for Payton’s absence. The Kings, on the other hand, have had a harder time compensating for their missing wings, Malik Monk (right knee sprain) and Kevin Huerter (left shoulder surgery).

While the fans in Sacramento will create a favorable (and loud) home environment for the Kings, the Warriors have looked like one of the conference’s best teams during the latter half of the season — their 27-14 second-half record and +5.5 net rating during those games both rank third in the West.

We want to know what you think. Will it be the Lakers or Pelicans punching their ticket to the playoffs tonight? Which of the Warriors and Kings will stay alive, and which will see their season end today?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your predictions!

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Southwest Notes: Rockets, Green, Pelicans-Lakers, Popovich

April 15th, 2024 at 5:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Rockets’ 2023/24 season, their first under new head coach Ime Udoka, is now in the books. Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle breaks down how the team showed plenty of promise en route to a 41-41 finish, diminished slightly by the lack of a playoff or play-in berth. The Rockets finished as the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference.

“Happy wouldn’t be the word,” Udoka said. “We are disappointed we didn’t meet our goal. When you are a few games behind, you think of all the tough … games we’ve given away, we understand where we could have been. The goal always was to make the playoffs and the play-in and have that experience for our guys.”

Center Alperen Sengun and shooting guard Jalen Green, who both enjoyed breakout seasons this year, are both set to be extension-eligible when the new league year begins in July.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

  • Pelicans head coach Willie Green‘s contract was reportedly extended last year, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Sources inform Clark that New Orleans also extended the contracts of New Orleans executive executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin and general manager Trajan Langdon. Green, a former journeyman NBA guard as a player, is in his third season with New Orleans and boasts a 127-119 record with the club so far. He has led the Pelicans to three consecutive postseason appearances, though the team was eliminated in the play-in tournament a year ago.
  • The Pelicans struggled to do much of anything against the Lakers in a critical season finale matchup on Sunday, as Rod Walker of NOLA.com details. In falling 124-108 to Los Angeles, New Orleans fell into the play-in tournament with a 49-33 record — the Pels are the West’s No. 7 seed and have a rematch on tap with the eighth-seeded Lakers on Tuesday.
  • Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich suggested that he expects return to coach probable Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama for his second season, writes Tom Orbsorn of The San Antonio Express-News. The 75-year-old Popovich inked a five-year deal worth upwards of $80MM to stick with San Antonio last summer. “He made it very clear day one he cares about his guys as people first,” Wembanyama said. “He is there to poke on us sometimes or to correct us. But the way my teammates and I have responded to all the advice it’s just been great and the dynamic is very good.”
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Zion Feels "Great" Heading Toward Playoffs

April 14th, 2024 at 7:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The 44-point loss to the Lakers during the in-season tournament proved to be a turning point for the Pelicans, according to Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times Picayune. Zion Williamson was heavily criticized by announcers and analysts for subpar conditioning and he took those harsh words to heart. Williamson appeared in his 70th game of the season on Sunday, a career high.

“I feel great,” Williamson said prior to the Pelicans’ loss to the Lakers on Sunday. “I’m having fun. In terms of stacking my days, it’s doing all the little things. Recovery. Extra recovery. Conditioning. Extra conditioning. Then when we are in practice, bringing a high intensity, so my body can be used to that.”

The December loss also inspired the rest of the Pelicans. “Sometimes you need to get your (butt) kicked on a national stage,” CJ McCollum said. “You hope it doesn’t happen. But when it does, it’s really interesting to see how everyone responds. You got two things you can do: You can fold or you can rise to the occasion. I think we have a group that genuinely rose to the occasion.”

The Lakers and Pelicans will match up once again during the play-in tournament on Tuesday.

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