Everything you need to know about the NBA play-in, with Lakers and Warriors as protagonists – Publinews – 2024-04-16 00:52:57

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will stay in New Orleans for a couple more days. Stephen Curry and Golden State will return to Sacramento to face an elimination game again and the Miami Heat are back in the play-in, where they began their run to the NBA Finals last year.

Lakers and Warriors, usually the almighty of the West and with the two highest paid and most famous players in the league, They are against the wall after a very mediocre season and that indicates that their great figures are approaching retirement. LeBron is 39 years old and Steph is 36.

How will the NBA play-in games be played?

The confrontations are ready. On Tuesday, The Lakers will face the Pelicans for the number seven spot in the Western Conference, then the Warriors and the Kings in an elimination game. On Wednesday, the Heat will travel to Philadelphia to decide seventh place in the Eastern Conference, followed by Atlanta in Chicago in a loser-bye matchup.

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The play-in was a system that debuted in the complicated 2019-2020 season due to covid, but that was maintained for the following championships due to its success.

Essentially, the postseason qualifiers were expanded from eight to ten teams, but with only six teams that directly entered the playoffs. and another four that compete for the “play-in”. In this mini-tournament, the 7th seed faces off against the 8th in a single duel and the winner enters the playoffs, while the loser has one more option against the winner of the match between the 9th vs. 10th for the last place. in the league for the championship.

Which teams are qualified for the postseason by conference?

The final order in the East, from 1st to 10th was: Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Orlando, Indiana, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta. In the West: Oklahoma City, Denver, Minnesota, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas, Phoenix, New Orleans, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento and Golden State.

The playoff series that are defined are those of Bucks-Pacers y Cavaliers-Magic in the East and Clippers-Mavericks y Timberwolves-Suns in the West. The top two seeds in each conference await the two play-in winners.

It could be that if the Lakers lose to the Pelicans and the Warriors defeat the Kings, LeBron James and Steph Curry meet again to define the last place in the West playoffs.