After 82 regular season games, the long-awaited playoffs will serve as a justice of the peace for the title contending franchises and succeed Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks, winners last year against the Phoenix Suns. And this race for the Larry O’Brien trophy starts on Tuesday April 12, with the start of the play-in tournament.
The playoffs, strictly speaking, will begin on Saturday at 7 p.m. with a clash between the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks. Before that, six play-in matches will take place, to determine the last four teams qualified for the final table. They are, for the moment, only twelve to be assured of being able to play these final phases.
First play-ins in history in an 82-game season
In the small papers of the League for several years, the play-in tournament was born during the 2019-2020 season, truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The concept was renewed after a season reduced to 72 games last year, before being set in stone this year. The operation of the NBA had however returned to pre-pandemic standards. This is therefore the first edition of the play-in in a season with 82 games.
A real revolution for the biggest basketball championship in the world. From now on, only the six best of each conference are guaranteed to be in the playoffs, against eight previously. The four teams ranked between seventh and tenth place meet in this three-day mini-tournament which determines the last two qualifiers by conference.
The table of #NBAPlayIn
Tuesday night, the winner is in the Playoffs
1H30 ⎜ #LetEmKnow @ #NetsWorld
3H30 ⎜ #ClipperNation @ #RaisedByWolvesWednesday night, the loser is eliminated
1H30 ⎜ #AllFly @ #TrueToAtlanta
3H30 ⎜ #PorVida @ #WBD pic.twitter.com/gl2uJVvfTJ— NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) April 11, 2022
The format is meant to be simple. The 7th faces the 8th and the winner of this match goes to the playoffs. The loser gets a second chance against the winner of a match between 9th and 10th, to reach the final table. The tenth can therefore, if they win twice, reach the final stages. A novelty that does not please everyone. “Whoever came up with the idea for this shit needs to be fired”had castigated LeBron James, participating in 2021. This year, for example, the San Antonio Spurs (34 wins) could take the place of the Minnesota Timberwolves (46 wins).
The accession play-offs begin on Tuesday evening with a clash between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Brooklyn Nets in the East (1h) and a confrontation between the Los Angeles Clippers of Nicolas Batum and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West (3h30).
Lots of contenders, no clear favorite
The fight for the title seems very open, once again. After the outrageous domination over the 2010 decade of the teams of LeBron James (Miami then Cleveland) and Golden State, no favorite emerges. The bookmakers believe in Phoenix, the League’s best record and unfortunate runners-up last year. They even imagine a remake of the 2021 final with the Milwaukee Bucks, reigning champions.
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In third position, according to them, we find the Brooklyn Nets, who must nevertheless go through the play-in tournament. But the presence of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the squad, combined with rumors of Ben Simmons’ possible return for the playoffs, fuel the idea that the New Yorkers could be the surprise of the leader. Ja Morant’s Grizzlies, unexpected second in the Western Conference, also hope to continue to thwart the odds.
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors want, for their part, to regain their supremacy with the return of Klay Thompson this season after long injuries. The experience of the Miami Heat and its coach Erik Spoelstra will be an asset for the Floridians.
Rudy Gobert and the Jazz dream of a first title
Performing in the regular season, Salt Lake City players have struggled to turn the try into good playoff campaigns since 2019. Eliminated twice in the first round in 2019 and 2020, the Jazzmen thought they had found the perfect symphony last year after finishing first in the league in the regular season. Eliminated by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round, they seemed out of tune and went on vacation full of regrets.
Rudy Gobert, voted best defender in the NBA three times and in the running for a fourth coronation, is the Frenchman with the most chances of lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy. A reward that has not been in the hands of a Habs since 2014 and the crowning of Spurs by Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.
Fifth in the Western Conference this season, the Jazz hope to imitate the Milwaukee Bucks, champions last year after a regular season less dominant than the previous ones. The difficulty for Quin Snyder’s men lies in the absence of an MVP-caliber player, capable of carrying the franchise on his own during difficult times.
But where is LeBron James?
Since his first participation in the playoffs in 2006, the native of Akron had missed the final stages only once, in 2019 already with the Lakers. At the end of a catastrophic season for his team, yet among the favorites at the start of the season, the Californians did not even make the play-in, finishing eleventh in the Western Conference with 21 defeats on the Last 28 meetings.
#NBA
❌ In 19 seasons, LeBron James has missed the #Playoffs only 4 times
And he was titled 4 times!#NBAextra pic.twitter.com/de3UCaH9LH— NBAextra (@NBAextra) April 6, 2022
Despite recruiting Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza and DeAndre Jordan in the offseason, the Lakers did worse than last season when they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. LeBron James, the leading scorer in NBA history, will therefore not have the opportunity to increase his points record in the final phase.
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