The bracket for the NBA In-Season Tournament is set, with all 8 teams making it out of their respective divisions. The teams consist of the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics, the Sacramento Kings, the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Indiana Pacers, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Phoenix Suns. 6 teams were able to advance into the bracket by having the best record or best point differential amongst their division. The other 2 teams were wildcards based on whichever teams with the best record or best point differential were left. It will be a single elimination tournament that will end with a game in Las Vegas, with the winning team earning the NBA In-Season Tournament Cup and $500,000 to each player on the team. I will be making my predictions on the ultimate victor of the tournament, and which teams get sent home all throughout.
Quarterfinals
Pacers vs. Celtics
The Indiana Pacers demonstrated a level of efficiency which has been obsolete throughout the league’s history. Spearheaded by the leadership of Tyrese Haliburton (26.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 11.9 APG), the Pacers now have a regular season record of 11-8, currently sitting as the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. Despite this historic season, they will soon face the Boston Celtics, who have dominated the Eastern Conference with a regular season record of 15-5. This performance can be attributed, in part, to the trio of Jayson Tatum (27.6 PPG), Jaylen Brown (22.2 PPG), and Kristaps Porzingis (18.9 PPG). That said, it may make sense to go with the team that has the better record, however, I am in favor of the Pacers as the winner of this game. I believe that Indiana can come out on top because of Boston’s inconsistency lately. While they may have a good record, they have started to stumble and have taken more losses than wins in their recent games. They are also playing without Porzingis, and that 18 points a game that he provides will be greatly missed once the game gets going. This is the first solid team that Indiana has had in a while, and they’re hungry, so I believe that they will advance.
Kings vs. Pelicans
The Sacramento Kings have had a resurgence in their franchise between last season and now. The team is led by the duo of De’Aaron Fox (30.3 PPG) and Domantas Sabonis (19.0 PPG), who were able to get their team to the playoffs as the 3rd seed, and are now currently the 5th seed in the Western Conference. They will be defending homecourt against the New Orleans Pelicans, who have also been on the rise as of late. The Pelicans have had ups and downs in the past few seasons, mostly due to the availability of their franchise star, Zion Williamson (22.7 PPG). However, Williamson has been playing all season and seems to be healthy, and with the support of Brandom Ingram (23.7 PPG) and the returning CJ McCollum (20.7 PPG), the Pelicans are not a team to be messed with. I think the Kings are a very well rounded team, but they lack experience in these sort of high intensity games that the tournament provides, whereas the Pelicans are ready to go into Sacramento and play with the pressure mounted against them. If CJ McCollum is able to push the offense forward in his first game back from injury, I think the Pelicans take this one.
Bucks vs. Knicks
With the acquisition of Damian Lillard (25.6 PPG) in this year’s offseason, the Milwaukee Bucks have become one of the favorites to win the NBA Championship in the spring. With Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.2 PPG) still leading the team, the Bucks are arguably the favorites for the tournament. Despite this, the New York Knicks have been having a decent season thus far, and are led by Jalen Brunson (24.9 PPG) and Julius Randle (21.5 PPG). I honestly do not think this game will be close. I think the Bucks will blowout the Knicks by more than 10 points at the very least. Every team in the NBA is very talented, but the Knicks simply aren’t a good team compared to the Bucks. The only advantage the Knicks have is better perimeter defense, and even then it is by a small margin, so I think Milwaukee advances.
Lakers vs. Suns
Around this time last year the Los Angeles Lakers were struggling to get above .500 after starting the season off 2-10. Fast forward to today, and they sit at the top of their division and are 5th in the Western Conference with a regular season record of 13-9. Meanwhile, the superstar duo of Kevin Durant (31 PPG) and Devin Booker (27.3 PPG) on the Suns have been putting up insane numbers together and are currently 7th in the Western Conference. While Durant and Booker may very well be the best duo in the league right now, the Suns really do lack depth in defense and offense outside of their two stars. A NBA team is made up of 15 players, not 2. On the other hand, the Lakers have the duo of Lebron James (24.7 PPG) and Anthony Davis 23.0 PPG), along with the depth needed to compete on all cylinders. While I do think that it will be a close game because Durant and Booker really are that good, I believe that the Lakers will move on to the semi-finals.
Finals
I believe that the two semifinals matchups won’t be very close. I’ve already discussed every teams’ strengths and weaknesses, so there is nothing to say other than that I think the finals will be between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Once the stage is set, I think it’ll be a very fun game to watch. The competitiveness will be at the highest level we’ve seen all season, and since neither team has any major injuries, it is just going to come down to the performance of the stars on each team. There are no real factors going into the game. There is no home court advantage because the game is in Las Vegas, both teams will be healthy, and both are coming off of strong wins in the regular season. It could go either way, but I think the Bucks will take it home. They have a better overall record and they are at a higher rank in their conference, so they have the best chances of leaving Las Vegas with the NBA In-Season Tournament Cup.
