{"id":26300,"date":"2023-04-12T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/12\/the-nba-play-in-tournament-is-off-to-a-dramatic-start\/"},"modified":"2023-04-12T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T04:00:00","slug":"the-nba-play-in-tournament-is-off-to-a-dramatic-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/12\/the-nba-play-in-tournament-is-off-to-a-dramatic-start\/","title":{"rendered":"The NBA play-in tournament is off to a dramatic start"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>The GIST: <\/strong>And they\u2019re off! The dramatic NBA play-in tournament more than delivered with last night\u2019s tip-off, giving way to tonight\u2019s win-or-go-home showdowns. Nothing like high stakes hoops.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How it works: <\/strong>First, a quick refresher on the <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fuljtiy-jitklkutjh-b\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">play-in format<\/a>. While the top six teams in each conference \u2014 Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference (WC) \u2014 already punched their playoff tickets, the tourney gives the seventh- through tenth-placed squads a chance to earn a spot.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The winners of last night\u2019s No. 7 vs. No. 8 games clinched the No. 7 seed in their conference, but the losers will face the winners of tonight\u2019s No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchups to decide the No. 8 spot. Living for the chaos.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Last night\u2019s No. 7 vs. No. 8 games: <\/strong>The early game was a stunner, as Trae Young and the EC No. 8 Atlanta Hawks scorched the No. 7 Miami Heat 116\u2013105, stealing the No. 7 seed and setting up a first-round date with the No. 2 Boston Celtics. Did not see that one coming, TBH.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Then out West, the No. 7 LA Lakers took care of business against the <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fuljtiy-jitklkutjh-n\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shorthanded<\/a> No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves 108\u2013102 in overtime. LeBron James and Co. get some much-needed rest while the TWolves will need to <a href=\"https:\/\/thegist.createsend1.com\/t\/t-l-fuljtiy-jitklkutjh-p\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sort through their differences<\/a> ahead of Friday\u2019s must-win game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tonight\u2019s No. 9 vs. No. 10 games: <\/strong>First up in this single-elimination doubleheader, the EC No. 9 Toronto Raptors host old friend DeMar DeRozan and the No. 10 Chicago Bulls at 7 p.m. ET. Chicago boasts the best road record in the league this season, but they\u2019ll need to keep it squeaky clean against the Raps, who lead the NBA in steals. Expect a nail-biter.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>And schedule in a deep breath before the 9:30 p.m. ET meeting between the WC No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans and No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder, because three of their four regular-season meetings were decided by four points or less.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n  n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n  document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('init', '1716705275141133'); \/\/ Insert your pixel ID here.\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n      <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegistsports.com\/article\/fdfc5a70-8728-4730-afa7-32e24a982342\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GIST: And they\u2019re off! The dramatic NBA play-in tournament more than delivered with last night\u2019s tip-off, giving way to tonight\u2019s win-or-go-home showdowns. Nothing like high stakes hoops. How it works: First, a quick refresher on the play-in format. While the top six teams in each conference \u2014 Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference (WC) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6805],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-womens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}