The Eight Teams Who Made It Past the In-Season Group Stage
Eight teams remain in the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament. Both the Indiana Pacers and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched their groups prior to yesterday’s games as they went undefeated in group play going 4-0. Before last night’s matchups eleven teams had an opportunity to clinch the final six spots. Now, two of these eight teams still in contention will play in Las Vegas for the initial NBA Cup, along with 500,000 dollars. We’ll see the quarter, semi, and championship game airing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday next week. Let’s check the teams that have a shot to win the primitive NBA Cup.
After last night’s games, we saw two additional teams go undefeated, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Sacramento Kings, both going 4-0. Milwaukee finished with the best point difference and earned the number one seed in the east. With the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Houston Rockets, this made the New Orleans Pelicans the winners of West Group B with a 3-1 record. To finish out the west, the Phoenix Suns won the West Wild Card after having the highest point difference out of any second-place team. The Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, and Brooklyn Nets all finished in East Group C with a 3-1 record. Boston had the highest point differential of the three teams, this made them win their group. Orlando, Brooklyn, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the New York Knicks finished at 3-1. New York however had the highest point differential out of these four teams, giving the Knicks this final spot in the East.
To recap:
East
(2nd seed) Indiana Pacers - East Group A winner
(1st seed) Milwaukee Bucks - East Group B winner
(3rd seed) Boston Celtics - East Group C winner
(4th seed) New York Knicks - East Wild Card
West
(1st seed) Los Angeles Lakers - West Group A winner
(2nd seed) New Orleans Pelicans - West Group B winner
(3rd seed) Sacramento Kings - West Group C winner
(4th seed) Phoenix Suns - West Wild Card
First, on Monday, we’ll see the Pacers take on the Celtics in Indiana, then the Pelicans will face the Kings in Sac-Town during the later game. On Tuesday it will be the Knicks in Milwaukee against the Bucks, and then the Suns at the Staples Center against LeBron and the Lakers. All four of these matchups should be extremely enticing, no one wants to lose, and when it comes down to the semifinals in Las Vegas the real pressure is on, as many will be glamoured by the Las Vegas atmosphere. All eight of these teams will most likely be competing in the playoffs come April, this gives them a real opportunity to make a name for themselves, and hopefully keep the good fortunes following their way. Who do you have winning the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament?
