Good morning to everyone but especially to…
THE NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Two playoff bids will be clinched tonight — and two other teams will be pushed to the brink — as the NBA Play-In Tournament opens with a pair of games:
The winner of each game will be the No. 7 seed in their respective conferences. The loser will play the winner of tomorrow’s contests on Friday, and the winner of that game will claim the No. 8 seed. You can see all the details here.
Let’s start with Timberwolves-Lakers, specifically Minnesota, because the biggest storyline is who won’t be there: Rudy Gobert has been suspended one game after punching teammate Kyle Anderson in the regular-season finale.
Gobert will be available for the Timberwolves’ next game, whether that’s in the playoffs or in the play-in elimination game.The Timberwolves will also be without Jaden McDaniels after he fractured his hand punching a wall in frustration earlier in the game.Of note, Minnesota has played better recently with Gobert off the court. Over the last 10 games, they have a +5.7 net rating when he’s not playing; only the Celtics had a better net rating than that this season.
The Lakers, on the other hand, are finally fully healthy and rolling. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games and are a unanimous pick to win by our experts. You can see all of our play-in picks here.
In the first game, the Hawks are looking for some revenge after the Heat beat them in five games in the first round last year. Miami absolutely hounded Trae Young in that series, so Dejounte Murray has to step up, and Atlanta has to play fast, writes our Brad Botkin.
Meanwhile, a big trade rumor surrounding Young popped up Monday.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for…
PAUL GEORGE AND THE LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
The Clippers‘ daunting first-round task — taking down the Suns — just got a lot tougher. Paul George (knee) will miss the…
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