Play-In Tournament First Round Review/Opinions

The Play-In Tournament was added/introduced in the 2019-2020 NBA season. The game was part of the NBA’s bubble plan, during the COVID pandemic. Ever since then, it has been a debate of whether this is a good thing for the league or not. Here, I will be reviewing and analyzing this year’s first round/first four games of the tournament.

Tuesday’s Games:

Miami vs. Atlanta:

On Tuesday, the first two games of the tournament were played. The first was the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks. In that game, the Hawks won in an ugly win 116-105. I say it was ugly because it seemed like neither team could hit a shot or find their rhythm. Trae Young, who has been struggling with his shot the whole season, continued to struggle against Miami’s defense, which was one of the only good things the Heat did.

The reason the Hawks won this game, was mainly because of their incredible defense early on, and because of Clint Capela being a force on the glass, getting eight offensive rebounds. I thought I was watching Wilt Chamberlain with the way he was grabbing rebounds left and right.

The reason the Heat lost this one is because Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo struggled from the field, making them hard to watch. They combined for 11/31 from the field. The only highlight for the Heat was Kyle Lowry showing his best self, which is one of my favorite players to watch when he’s in a groove, having 33 points on 11/16 shooting. He looked like the Kyle Lowry of old from his Raptors days, which was one of my favorite teams in the NBA at the time.

The crowd setting wasn’t much till the Heat went on a little run in the second half, when the Hawks defense started slipping. Overall, I give this game a 5/10, because the game was lacking in competition but there also were some highlights like Clint Capela and Kyle Lowry.

Los Angeles vs. Minnesota:

For the second game of the night, the Lakers and Timberwolves matched up in Los Angeles. This game was also very hard to watch, not because it wasn’t competitive, but because both teams were genuinely bad this showing. Both teams had 20 turnovers, and if you watched this game, that number seems low with how bad a lot of the play was.

The Lakers topped this game in an overtime win 108-102. The Wolves started this game with Mike Conley and Karl Anthony Towns not being able to miss, but the cooled down in the second half when the Lakers jumped back into the game. The only highlight of this game was the last 30 seconds or so. Dennis Schroder hit a clutch three with a couple seconds left on the clock. The next play had me on the floor laughing; Mike Conley got the inbound pass and Anthony Davis went up to contest but committed the most obvious foul ever which brought Conley to the free throw line to tie it and bring them to overtime. Overtime was owned by the Lakers, only letting the Wolves score four points.

Overall, this game was weird; it was entertaining but also hard to watch at the same time with how bad both teams played. I would give this game a 7/10 only because the last couple of minutes of the game were some of the most entertaining minutes of the season.

Wednesday’s Games:

Toronto vs. Chicago:

For the third game of the Play-In Tournament, the Bulls and the Raptors faced off in Toronto. This was an interesting game; the crowd is always wild in Toronto, no matter the occasion, but there was a completely different feel watching the game, the excitement that only this tournament can bring.

The Raptors had the lead early on, and it appeared that it would be a blowout after halftime; Fred VanVleet hit many shots that got the crowd roaring and had me standing up out of my seat at home. The second half though, was an entirely different story. The Bull’s defense was the most entertaining defense I have ever seen, they got steals and stops on almost every play, and Zach Lavine decided to become one of the greatest Bulls of all time and finished the game with 39 points, after only having 9 and the half.

The real game MVP though was DeMar DeRozan’s daughter Diar. She screamed on every free throw that the Raptors shot, causing them to miss HALF of them. This game was really entertaining – great shots, amazing defense, a comeback, and laughs – so I give this game a 9/10.

Oklahoma City vs. New Orleans:

The second game of the night, and the fourth game of the tournament was the Thunder versus the Pelicans in New Orleans. This crowd was special, they were so energetic, it was almost like I was there. This game was close the entire time, but it seemed as if the Pel’s had the edge throughout the first half, but second half Shai Gilgeous-Alexander woke up and dominated the third quarter, causing the Thunder to have the lead and finish the game strong.

I did not watch this entire game, mainly because I like sleep, but from what I saw this game was full of energy the entire time and it was an incredibly competitive contest. I give this game a 7/10.