With 14 teams having already punched their
ticket into the 2023 NBA Playoffs, all that remains is four teams competing for
the No. 8 and final Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and the Western
Conference. The first contest No. 8 tilt is on South Beach between last season’s
No. 1 Seed against a team that took them down in their season opener and defeated
their other two matchups during the season. The nightcap features a squad seeking
their first playoff appearance since the restart in Orlando, FL in 2020 at the
team that is seeking their first consecutive postseason appearances in nearly
two decades. Here is the J-Speaks NBA Play-In Tournament Preview of fight for
No. 8 spot in East and West.
Eastern Conference
(10) Chicago Bulls versus (7) Miami Heat
(40-42) (44-38)
7 p.m. on TNT
Regular season series: Bulls won 3-0.
Last season the boys from South Beach came
within one shot of their second NBA Finals appearance the past three seasons.
Injuries, inefficient offense, and lack of size in the front court dropped the
three-time NBA champions into this season’s Play-In Tournament where their
weaknesses were on full display on Tuesday night. Now they are in a win or go
home tilt to just make the Playoffs against a team that too has had a rough
season but got their crack as the postseason by how they won on the road in Canada
on in the middle of this week.
The Miami Heat on Tuesday night had a
chance to punch their ticket to the 2023 Playoffs, but their shooting woes that
have been a problem all season coupled with their inability to rebound cost
them in their 116-105 loss versus the Atlanta Hawks (41-41), who clinched the No.
7 Seed in the East and will take on the No. 2 Seed in the defending Eastern
Conference champion Boston Celtics (57-25).
The Hawks outrebounded the Heat 63-39
including 22-6 on the offensive glass. The Heat outscored the Hawks 64-46 in
the paint; 26-6 in second chance points and 17-12 in fastbreak points.
The troubles for the Heat were on full display
in the opening 24 minutes against the Hawks, who outrebounded them 34-22 (8-2
offensive rebounds) and outscored the Heat’s reserves 35-21 as the Hawks led
65-50 at intermission. The Hawks bench for the game outscored the Heat reserves
53-37.
The Heat did cut a 15-point deficit down to single-digits in the fourth quarter. But Hawks answered each time.
“Certainly, we would’ve liked to have
started, you know, better, you know. But I think the first quarter we actually missed
some very makable shots and then then [Hawks] you know built a double-digit
lead. But we crawled back into it. The story is, you know, the second chance
opportunities,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team fell to 1-11 on the
season when allowing 65-plus points in first half on the season said in his postgame
presser.
“We actually did force them; I don’t have
the percentage on shots without an offensive rebound. But I thought we defended,
you know, fairly well. Particularly in the last five minutes of the second
quarter, on through the second half. We just were not able to come up with
those finishing rebounds. And it was kind of a mix, a highlight film gone bad of
either missed block outs, bobbled balls, tip balls, or two guys there and they
[Hawks] were able to just come up with the rebound. And if they did come up
with the rebound they also were able to turn those into scores. Many of those
momentum breaking scores.”
While veteran guard Kyle Lowry had 33
points on 11/16 from the field, including 6/9 on his threes off the bench in
his highest scoring game with the Heat and his first 30-point game since Feb.
5, 2021 with the Toronto Raptors and Tyler Herro had 26 points and six boards
on 12/23 shooting, the Heat’s two All-Stars did not have it in the most
important game of the season for the Heat.
Jimmy Butler, who has in his Heat career
risen to the moment in big games this time of year before had 21 points and
nine assists on 9/11 from the charity stripe but was just 6/19 from the field.
Bam Adebayo had just 12 points with nine boards, three steals and two block
shots on 5/12 shooting.
Butler really had his struggles in the
opening stanza where on a couple of occasions had easy layups at the basket
that he just did not cash in on.
“I don’t think we took too much away from
them tonight. They got in the paint. They made threes. They offensive rebound. Got
the free throw line. It was just an overall bad game,” Butler said in his
postgame presser following the loss versus Hawks.
The Heat shot just 42.9 percent from the
field (39/91 FGs), including 11/34 on their threes. Outside of Lowry’s performance
from three, the rest of the Heat’s shooters could not strike a match from the perimeter.
Herro was just 2/9 from three, while starting
guard Max Strus had just three points on 1/5 from three-point range. Gabe Vincent
had just six points on 2/6 from three. Caleb Martin went scoreless with five
boards off the bench on 0/3 from the field in 29 minutes.
Former All-Star Kevin Love, who was picked
up off the waiver wire along with fellow veteran player Cody Zeller combined
off the bench for four points and zero rebounds on 2/6 shooting.
The Heat brought Love and Zeller into the
fold not too long ago because they needed size in their front court to counter
the opposing team’s front court, especially on the glass, which they did not
specifically on Tuesday night.
The Heat now turn their attention to the
Bulls, who defeated the Heat in all three meetings by an average of 10.9 points
per contest and giving up on average 114 points in the three losses.
The Bulls positioned themselves to reach
the postseason for a second straight season by winning 109-105, coming back
from an 11-point deficit (58-47) at the half and a 19-point deficit (66-47) in
the third quarter.
The Bulls became the first No. 10 Seed to
win a game in the three-year history of the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Leading the charge was two-time All-Star
Zach LaVine, who scored 30 of his 39 points in the second half, with those 30
second half points his highest in any half this season going 12/22 from the
field for the game and 13 for 15 at the foul line.
LaVine got on a role in the third quarter
scoring 17 points in the period and followed that up with 13 points in the fourth
quarter.
For LaVine who had his struggles early in
the season following offseason knee surgery, had what he called his “rhythm” in
the second half where he simply attacked
any Raptors player that was guarding him on the perimeter off the dribble and
scored seemingly at will whether it was at the rim or getting the foul line and
that made his jump shot even more lethal.
“It feels good,” LaVine said in his
postgame presser about his performance in second-half of this season,
especially at the Raptors. “I was going to get in rhythm after coming off
injury in the summertime, you know…Obviously about a month before, started
feeling like myself and I think everything,
you know, you guys can see that. Numbers show that and I wanted to take it into
these Play-In Games.”
To back up LaVine’s prognostication about
what he has done post All-Star break, he averaged 27 points with 4.7 assists on
53.2 percent from the field and 39.4 percent on his threes the final 22 games
he played in regular season.
The former UCLA Bruin simply unstoppable
against the Raptors by scoring off the dribble and getting the foul line
consistently in the second half, which opened things up for the rest of the
Bulls like DeMar DeRozan, who scored 23 points with seven rebounds on 10/19
shooting against the team that he spent nine seasons with as the No. 9 overall
pick out of USC.
Fellow All-Star Nikola Vucevic chipped in
with a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Patrick Williams
also contributed 10 points.
The Bulls in the second half created 29
points off of drives and after going 3/19 on their threes the first three
quarters went 4/7 from three in the fourth quarter all because they attacked
the teeth of the Raptors defense led by LaVine.
“Amazing,” DeRozan said postgame about
LaVine’s performance. “He carried us. Was aggressive downhill. He just put his
will on the game and we all followed behind that offensively and defensively, you
know.”
“That’s why he [LaVine] is who he is. It was
great. I knew it was coming when I saw his feet start moving fast. I knew he
was being aggressive downhill. Nobody could guard him from getting downhill. We
was making plays. Guys was locked in, you know? It was fun, you know? Tonight,
was fun.”
While the Bulls have been inconsistent
this season, the one constant for them has been their play defensively and that
too is how they came back from a 19-point deficit.
They held the Raptors to 43.7 percent
shooting (38/87 FGs) and 11/31 on their threes, despite the Raptors
outrebounding the Bulls 50-38, including 16-8 on the offensive glass. The Bulls
though had 10 block shots and forced 16 Raptors turnovers, that they turned
into 22 points.
Leading the way defensively was guard Alex
Caruso and late season pickup in veteran guard and Chicago native Patrick Beverly,
who has helped the Bulls to a 14-9 mark since his arrival.
“We weren’t doing terrible on defense. We
just weren’t getting good breaks, but offensively, we were slow,” LaVine said.
“We weren’t getting downhill. Just wanted
to be aggressive attacking, you know? Obviously just got going and once that
happened, I think the rhythm for whole team got going.”
While the Bulls shot 48.8 percent from the
field (42/86 FGs), they also made the most of their chances at the charity
stripe going 18/22 while the Raptors were horrific at the foul line going
18/36.
Whether it was effective or not, each time
the Raptors shot a free throw on Wednesday night, DeRozan’s six-year-old daughter
Diar screamed right as a player on the home team would shoot and miss. That
also included six misses at the foul line by the Raptors in the final period, which
included two miss foul shots in the closing seconds by two-time All-Star Pascal
Siakam in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
“She went viral,” DeRozan said postgame about
his daughter. “I haven’t let sink in yet…I kept hearing something during the game and It was one free
throw somebody missed and I looked back and I was like, ‘That’s my daughter
screaming?’”
DeRozan added that his daughter begged him
to come to the game and see where he began his NBA career, which he was
hesitant to say yes at first because he did not want her to miss school.
DeRozan in his postgame presser said that
his daughter can “miss one day of school” to attend the game and said that he
was “glad” he made that choice and that he “owed her some money.” He did add
that she would not be at their Play-In contest at the Heat on Friday because it
was a school day.
Speaking of the Bulls versus the Heat,
they as mentioned will be meeting in South Beach with the No. 8 and final
Playoff spot in the East on the line and a First-Round playoff date with the
No. 1 Seeded Milwaukee Bucks (58-24).
As mentioned earlier, the Bulls won all
three contest against the Heat during the regular season.
They won the season opener 116-108 at the
Heat, outscoring them 37-27 in the third quarter in the victory on Oct. 19,
2022.
In their return to South Beach on Dec. 20,
2022 the Bulls took down the Heat again 113-103. The Bulls led that game 31-21
after the first quarter but trailed at intermission 57-52. But outscored the Heat
36-20 in the third quarter and 61-46 in the second half leading by as many as 19
points in the second 24 minutes.
At home, the Bulls took down the Heat
113-99, leading by as many as 27 points and held off a Heat rally where they
drew within four before the Bulls finished them off for the win.
What it will come down to in this win or
go home tilt between the Bulls and Heat is who can consistently make mid-range
jumpers and who can make it happen on both ends in the clutch.
The Heat have Butler, who makes his money
scoring wise by getting to the foul line as well as making shots from mid-range.
The same can be said for DeRozan, who averaged 28.3 points in the three games
against the Heat during the regular season.
Only De’Aaron Fox (194) of the No. 3
Seeded Sacramento Kings in the West has totaled more points with the score
within five points the final five minutes of fourth quarter/overtime than the
159 such points by DeRozan and 151 such points by Butler.
Only the Dallas Mavericks (55 games) played
more games in clutch time than the 54 by the Heat, who produced the most clutch
wins during the regular season at 32, while producing a 32-22 mark in games
within five points the last five minutes of fourth quarter/overtime.
The Bulls, despite their clutch time win
on Wednesday night at the Raptors went just 15-23 in clutch games in the
regular season.
The other difference heading into this
matchup between the Bulls and Heat is that Miami has shown this season and in
past seasons that when they have a rough performance they can bounce back
quickly, especially because they have top shelf talent in All-Stars Jimmy
Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry, along with reigning Kia Sixth Man of the
Year in Tyler Herro.
“I mean, as far as confidence goes, we
have to stay confident. We have to know that we are capable of winning if we
start out the right way, and if we rebound obviously,” Butler said.
“But I don’t know, you know. Shots don’t
go in, we don’t defend, we foul. That’s never the recipe for success with us.
So, come Friday we got to play like legit the exact way we played tonight.”
The Bulls have shown that they can lose
their sense of urgency after winning a so-called big game. In the regular
season, the Bulls registered two wins against the aforementioned Bucks and
Celtics. But also have losses to the NBA Draft Lottery bound Houston Rockets
and San Antonio Spurs.
On top of that, it is very difficult to
take down a team four times, which is what the Bulls have a chance to do this
evening, not to mention a second road in the Play-In Tournament, which has yet
to be done.
Last season, the Heat came within one
score of taking down the Boston Celtics and reaching The NBA Finals to compete
for their fourth title in franchise history. Come Friday night, they will be
competing for a chance to just be in the Playoffs and take their chances with a
Milwaukee Bucks team that they took down in the 2020 East Semifinals 4-1 but
lost to in a four-game sweep in First-Round of 2021 NBA Playoffs.
The Bulls on Friday night will be looking
for their first four-game winning streak of the season. To become the first team
in the three-year history of NBA Play-In Tournament to reach the Playoffs as a
No. 10 Seed. They also are seeking to make the Playoffs in consecutive seasons
for the first time since 2014 and 2015.
Winner: Heat
Western Conference
(10) Oklahoma City Thunder versus (8) Minnesota
Timberwolves
(40-42) (42-40)
9:30 p.m. on ESPN
Regular season series: Timberwolves won 1-1.
I recent years, whenever you hear an NBA
team talk about what their goal is going to a season, it is to win a
championship no matter if you have a team where that goal is realistic or just
a dream. A big part of making that dream a reality is to consistently have a
team that can make the Playoffs each season. The West Conference Play-In tilt
on Friday night to capture the No. 8 and final Playoff spot in the Western
Conference with the visitors from OKC seeking to make it back to the Playoffs
after a two-year absence while the home team representing Minneapolis, MN is
seeking their second straight postseason appearance and just their third
postseason appearance in last 19 seasons.
Through solid selections in the NBA Draft
the two Junes, solid trades where they have accumulated assets from players and
draft picks and hiring the right head coach to grow with said young roster, the
Thunder have gradually rebuilt themselves into becoming a Playoff team again
and with a victory on Friday night in the Timberwolves house they will be back
in the Playoffs for the first time since 2020.
The Thunder last postseason appearance was
three years ago in the restart in Orlando, FL where they lost in seven games to
then James Harden led Houston Rockets.
The head coach ironically enough then was
the now leader on the Bulls sidelines in Billy Donovan. The headliners of the
roster then were now Phoenix Suns veteran All-Star guard Chris Paul and two
youngsters in now first-time All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz
Dort.
The Thunder pushed the Rockets to the
brink of that series before falling to the Rockets 4-3. That summer, Coach
Donovan decided to move on from the team and Paul was dealt to the Phoenix
Suns.
Donovan and Paul moved on because Thunder
General Manager Sam Presti made the decision that his team was not good enough
to just remain a fringe playoff team and decided that this was the time to
rebuild this roster into one that can be a legit threat in the rugged Western
Conference.
It started with the hiring of Donovan’s
former assistant coach during his time at the University of Florida and head coach
of the Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate the Oklahoma City Blue Mark Daigneault.
While the Thunder produced just a 22-50
mark in 2020-21 shortened seasons and a 24-58 mark in 2021-22, the Thunder through
crafty trades and solid draft picks have now positioned themselves following an
11-18 start to this season to make the Playoffs because of what they did on
Wednesday night in winning at the New Orleans Pelicans (42-40) 123-118.
The Thunder’s win joined the Bulls as the
first No. 10 Seeds in the short history of three years of the Play-In Tournament to win a
game.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way scoring 25
of his game-high 32 points in the second half on 11/22 shooting and 8/8 at the
foul line. Dort had a season-high 27 points with five rebounds on 8/14 from the
field, including 4/8 from three-point range and 7/8 from the foul line.
Aiding Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort on this
night for the Thunder was 20-year-old Josh Giddey, the No. 6 overall pick in
2021 from Australia, who had a near triple-double of 31 points, 10 assists and
nine rebounds also on 11/22 shooting, including 3/7 from three and 6/7 on the
foul line.
Rookie Jalen Williams, the No. 12 overall
pick out in June 2022 of University of Santa Clara chipped in with 11 points.
The Thunder began this season as mentioned
11-18 and seemed on their way to their straight season finishing in the
Lottery. They finished 29-24 the rest of the season and gained confidence that
they could play with anybody in the league.
Leading that charge, especially on
Wednesday night was Gilgeous-Alexander who scored 17 of his 25 second half
points in the third quarter on 6/9 shooting and making all four of his free throws.
It was his 40 third quarter scoring 10 points or more on the season.
“We know who we are and we’ve won some big
basketball games this year and we know what’s won us those games and we try to
stay to that identity. Throughout the crowd, and the environment. Whatever’s
going on,” Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the NBA with 10.2 scoring average in the
third quarter said postgame.
Giddey add 12 points and five assists of
his own on 5/5 shooting in the third as the Thunder outscored the Pelicans
39-24 in the third to go from down 63-57 at the half to up 96-87 after three
quarters.
“Yeah, it was good,” Giddey said postgame
of his first taste of postseason hoops. “I mean, it felt like a Playoff game. It
felt like what I thought it would feel like.”
“It’s my first one. So, it was what I
expected. Not-even just the physicality of the game but the crowd, the
environment. It was [Smoothie King Center] a hostile place to play. An these
are the type of games you grow up you want to be involved in and for me this
was as good as I could’ve imagined my first Playoff experience being.”
That is the same experience the Minnesota
Timberwolves had in the 2022 NBA Play-In Tournament. But that experience for
them came at home where they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers to earn clinch
their second postseason berth since 2004 and their first since 2018. They lost
a hard fought six-game series to the No. 2 Seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
Back in the summer of 2022, the
Timberwolves following that series loss to Grizzlies went out and acquired
three-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-Star center Rudy
Gobert for four players five First-Round picks counting in Walker Kessler, the
No. 22 overall pick in 2022 and 2026 First-Round pick swap.
The Timberwolves did not start off well, going
16-21 in 2022. Three-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns was on the shelf for 52 straight
games after suffering a serious calf strain in the team’s 142-127 loss at the
Washington Wizards (33-49) on Nov. 28, 2022.
In need of a spark and a veteran presence
in the locker room, in a three-team trade, the Timberwolves in a three-team
deal with the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz acquired Mike Conley and sent D’Angelo
Russell to the Lakers.
The Timberwolves won three in a row and seven
of their final 10 games of the regular season to capture the No. 8 Seed in the
West Play-In Tournament.
That third straight win, a 113-108 triumph
last Sunday afternoon versus the Pelicans was a costly one as Gobert was sent
to the showers and eventually home after getting into a verbal altercation with
starting forward Kyle Anderson that led to Gobert punching Anderson in the
chest during a second quarter timeout. Gobert was pushed away from the bench and
ordered to go to the team’s locker room and then was eventually sent home.
They also lost their best two-way player
in Jaden McDaniels for very likely the rest of the season when in frustration
fouling being called for a foul guarding All-Star wing Brandon Ingram of the
Pelicans punched the wall of the hallway leading towards the team’s locker room
and ended up breaking his hand.
After the game, Gobert took to Twitter to
apologize for his actions saying on RudyGobert27, “Emotions got the best of me
today. I should not have reacted the way I did regardless of what was said. I
wanna apologize to the fans, the organization, and particularly to Kyle who is
someone that I truly love and respect as a teammate.”
Even with that apology, Timberwolves head coach
Chris Finch while he understands that tempers can flare in the middle of a
game, especially a big one like Sunday’s where your season is hanging in the
balance, the “behavior” Gobert displayed is something he does not “tolerate”
and is something that the team does not “condone.”
“Veterans can get upset too. So, I really don’t
want to be too hard on him,” Finch said postgame about Gobert’s actions. “But obviously,
it’s not something we’re going to be able to tolerate here and I’m sure he’s
already remorseful.”
Anderson seemed to take the moment in
stride saying to reporters at his locker after the win that “tempers” flare in
the middle of a game that “you want to win.”
“It is what it is. Like it happens. It’s
not the first time something like that has happened,” Anderson added. “We want to
win games. It is what it is. It ain’t the first time someone’s swung at me. But
it is what it is. We keep it in house….We’ll speak about it. We’re grown men.
It is what it is. Let’s move on.”
Unfortunately, Timberwolves General
Manager and President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly felt a message
needed to be sent and suspended Gobert for the team’s Play-In tilt at the
Lakers Tuesday evening.
Without Gobert, McDaniels, and reserve center
Naz Reid due to wrist surgery, the Timberwolves played well at the Lakers the
first three-and-a-half quarters up by 15 points in the third and led by 11 points
early in the fourth quarter. However, they went cold offensively the last half
of the fourth quarter and overtime and lost 108-102 in overtime.
They got to the extra five minutes because
Conley with 00.1 seconds left in regulation was fouled by Lakers’ perennial
All-Star center Anthony Davis on a corner three-pointer right in front of the
Lakers’ bench went to the charity stripe and sank all three free throws to tie
it up 98-98. The Lakers outscored the Timberwolves 10-4 in overtime and fell
108-102.
Towns led the way for the visitors with 24
points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and three block shots. Conley had 23 points
going 6/8 from three. Taurean Prince had 14 points on 4/7 on his triple tries.
Anderson had a double-double of 12 points and 13 assists with five boards, four
steals and four blocks. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who also was acquired in the
three-team deal on Feb. 9 scored 11.
Along with the Timberwolves struggling
offensively from the midway point in the fourth quarter and overtime, first-time
All-Star Anthony Edwards had just nine points on 3/17 shooting, including 0/9
on his threes with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Counting the final six minutes of the
fourth period and overtime, the Timberwolves scored just 10 points on 2/16 shooting,
including 0/9 on their threes with eight turnovers.
It was the 19th game dating
back to the regular season that the Timberwolves lost after leading by 10-plus
points.
“I’ve been on the sidelines just watching,”
Towns, who in the fourth quarter was on the sidelines with five fouls said
postgame. “When it rains, it pours. We haven’t done the best job of stopping
the bleeding when teams are getting hot.”
“We’ve got to do a better job of
protecting the leads we get and utilizing them to win.”
Entering this winner goes to the Playoff tilt,
the young Thunder seem to be the team coming in more cohesive and focused as
opposed to the Timberwolves who from the outside look fractured.
While Gobert is eligible to play on Friday
night versus the Thunder, he is uncertain to play because of back spasms.
Not having one of the best defensive
centers in “The Association” out there would leave a serious hole in the Timberwolves
lineups against the Thunder because they led the NBA in drives per game with 64
and Gilgeous-Alexander led the league with 23.9 drives per game.
With no Gobert or if he is limited in any
way, the Thunder could be living in the paint, where they finished third in “The
Association” in paint points per game at 55.2.
The Timberwolves were tied with the Atlanta
Hawks for No. 7 in the league in paint points per contest at 54.3.
Along without having or a limited Gobert
inside. No McDaniels means Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, and Jalen Williams could
create havoc off the dribble and score in the paint as well as find open people
on the perimeter on kickouts from those drives.
“We for sure missed Rudy, you know. He
brings a gravity to the game that not many players can do, you know,” Conley
said postgame about not having his current teammate Gobert with Timberwolves
and formerly with the Jazz the previous three seasons. “Having a guy like Rudy
to be able to muck the game as well as would have been huge.”
During the season, the season, the Timberwolves dominated the Thunder taking
three of the four meetings but all four occurred in the 2022 portion of the
season.
Timberwolves won versus the Thunder
115-108 in the season opener for both squads on Oct. 19, 2022. Minnesota won
116-105 at the Thunder four days later. The Thunder won in a shootout at the
Timberwolves 135-128 Dec. 3, 2022. But the Timberwolves got their payback
winning at the Thunder again 112-110 Dec. 16, 2022.
The winner as mentioned of this game will
clinch in the No. 8 and final Playoff spot in the West and face the No. 1Seeded
Denver Nuggets in the First Round of 2023 NBA Playoffs.
For the Thunder a victory would as mentioned
secure their first trip to the Playoffs since 2020 and put another check mark
in their rebuilding process to being a playoff perennial.
“All season, I’ve been impressed with the
team’s confidence,” Coach Daigneault said after the win at the Pelicans about
his team’s growth this season. “It’s kind of uncommon for a team as young as we
are. But I think a lot of it comes from that it’s a collective swagger. They feed
off each other. They encourage each other. They encourage each other. There’s
no judgment inside the team. They build each other up. And then you go out there
in an environment like this [At Pelicans] and everybody can stick their chest
out.”
For the Timberwolves, who had higher
expectations entering this season after acquiring Rudy Gobert to go alongside Karl-Anthony
Towns, Jaden McDaniels, and Anthony Edwards and the rest of the talented roster
it would be a step backwards to be in a thrilling First Round series in 2022
against the Memphis Grizzlies and miss out on the postseason entirely one year
later.
Winner: Timberwolves.
Information, statistics, and quotations
are courtesy of 4/11/2023 7:30 p.m. “Hawks versus Heat” NBA Play-In Tournament,
TNT, presented by AT&T With Ian Eagle, Jim Jackson, Jared Greenberg; 4/11/2023
10 p.m. “Timberwolves vs. Lakers” NBA Play-In Game TNT, presented by AT&T
With Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, and Allie LaForce; 4/12/2023 7 p.m. “Bulls
vs. Raptors” NBA Play-In Game ESPN, presented by AT&T With Mark Jones,
Doris Burke, Cassidy Hubbarth; 4/12/2023 12 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter With Scott
Van Pelt,” from Washington, D.C. and 1 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” from Los
Angeles, CA With Ashley Brewer and Stan Verrett; 4/13/2023 7 p.m. NBATV’s “NBA
Playoff Preview,” presented by The Google Phone With Chris Miles, Dennis Scott,
Sam Mitchell; 4/13/2023 12 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter With Scott Van Pelt” from
Washington, D.C. 4/13/2023 5 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime” With Nabil Karim, Dennis
Scott, and Brendan Haywood; 4/14/2023 www.nba.com
story, “2023 NBA AT&T Play-In Tournament Preview: Friday’s Matchups,” By Shaun
Powell; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_Timberwolves_seasons.
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