NBA Play-In Tournament Second Round Predictions
Two more games decide the official 16 teams in this year’s NBA Playoff race. On Tuesday night, we saw the New Orleans Pelicans lose out on the seventh seed to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Sacramento Kings eliminating the Golden State Warriors. Now, the Kings will head to New Orleans to determine the Western Conference’s eighth seed. Out in the East, on Wednesday the Philadelphia 76ers outlasted the Miami Heat to take the seventh seed, while the Chicago Bulls eliminated the Atlanta Hawks from playoff contention. It will be the Bulls out in Miami to decide who will take the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed and will face the Boston Celtics. These two games are going to be a dogfight, as all four of these teams left in the Play-In mix want to advance. Which teams will move on, and which teams will be eliminated?
Chicago Bulls vs. Miami Heat
It was just announced yesterday that Jimmy Butler will miss several weeks of action with a right MCL injury, which he suffered on Wednesday night in the Heat’s 105-104 loss to the Sixers. With Miami’s star player out, this gives Chicago a significant chance to upset the Heat. While former all-stars like DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic dropped 20 plus points in the win against the Hawks, point guard Coby White went off for 42 points, along with having six rebounds, and nine assists. White has an opportunity to solidify his chances of being the NBA’s 2023-2024 Most Improved Player. It will be interesting to see if White can perform just like he did on Wednesday night, especially against a tough-minded defensive team like the Heat. Now with Butler out, someone like Haywood Highsmith or Jaime Jaquez Jr. needs to step their offensive game up. Even Tyler Herro needs to step it up, even though he had 25 points in the loss Wednesday night, he went nine for 27 from the field. All of those missed shots won’t help you win. Herro must be more precise, and effective from the floor if he’s gonna provide a Heat win tonight. With all that being said, even though the Miami Heat has a team that’s always set for an NBA Finals run, I believe the Chicago Bulls will get the best of them and take the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed, setting up a first-round matchup with the Boston Celtics.
Sacramento Kings vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Just like Jimmy Butler, the Pelicans will be without Zion Williamson, who will be out with a hamstring injury. Williamson dropped 40 points in New Orleans’s 110-106 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night. Guys like Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and Trey Murphy III will all need to grow their offensive prowess if they want to stand a chance against a Sacramento Kings team that has also dealt with some tough injuries before the regular season ended. and Kevin Huerter was the foundation of the Kings bench and the team has severely missed both players, as the bench production has struggled. Regardless, the Kings starters need to perform just as well as they did during their win Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors. Sacramento’s starters scored 104 out of their 118 points that night. The Kings star players De’Aaron Fox, and Domantas Sabonis must be the glue that holds this team together if they want to claim the eighth seed. If Fox and Sabonis have a bad night from the floor, the Kings may be in trouble. I believe the Sacramento Kings will have the willpower to outlast the Pelicans and take the Western Conference’s eighth seed, which means they’ll face the young, but threatful Oklahoma City Thunder team in the first round.
