NBA’s play-in games don’t make everyone happy (hi, LeBron James!), but they exist in 2021 whether you like them or not.
So here’s what we’ll do ahead of the final day of the 2020-21 regular season on Sunday: we’ll look every day at what the matchups look like at the moment and the likelihood that some of the teams in the East and West will either avoid the play-ins or will probably need to win a game or two to make it to the true postseason.
Here’s Tuesday’s update, and although there aren’t a ton of changes since Monday’s post, there’s been some movement (all stats via Basketball-Reference):
East 1-6
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
These are the East teams who will avoid the play-in at the moment:
1. Philadelphia 76ers
2. Brooklyn Nets
3. Milwaukee Bucks
4. New York Knicks
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Miami Heat
East play-in teams
Here they are, with the probability for their current seed:
7. Boston Celtics (70.4 percent)
8. Charlotte Hornets (74.2 percent)
9. Indiana Pacers (27.5 percent)
10. Washington Wizards (33.5 percent)
The Chicago Bulls have a 3.8 percent chance at the 10 seed.
Note that the Pacers moved into the No. 9 spot, giving them home-court for a play-in game.
West 1-6
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
These are the West teams who will avoid the play-in at the moment:
1. Utah Jazz
2. Phoenix Suns
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Denver Nuggets
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Portland Trail Blazers
West play-in teams
Here they are, with the probability for their current seed:
7. Los Angeles Lakers (44.6 percent)
8. Golden State Warriors (28.2 percent)
9. Memphis Grizzlies (66.0 percent)
10. San Antonio Spurs (97.6 percent)
The New Orleans Pelicans have a 1.3 percent chance at the No. 10 seed and the Sacramento Kings have a 0.4 percent chance.
No movement here since Monday.
If the season ended today ...
EAST:
The Celtics would host the Hornets, with the winner getting the No. 7 seed.
The Pacers would host the Wizards, with the winner moving on to play the loser of the Celtics-Hornets matchup for the No. 8 seed.
WEST:
The Lakers would host the Warriors, with the winner getting the No. 7 seed.
The Grizzlies would host the Spurs, with the winner moving on to play the loser of the Lakers-Warriors matchup for the No. 8 seed.
