Analysis: As the NBA’s 12 best teams catch their breath and its 10 worst teams head out on summer vacation, the league’s middle class will battle this week in a play-in tournament
Toronto claimed the season series 2-1, with the home team winning each game. The Raptors boast a solid 27-14 home record and have gotten decent production from center Jakob Poeltl, whom they acquired from the Spurs at the deadline. Meanwhile, Patrick Beverley, who joined his hometown Bulls after a February buyout, has provided a late-season emotional spark and helped fill in the gaps created by Ball’s interminable absence.
The Pelicans are neck deep in deja vu, as they entered last year’s play-in tournament as the No. 9 seed without an injured Zion Williamson. The absence of their franchise forward didn’t stop them from winning two play-in games to claim the West’s final playoff spot in 2022, and they will have a chance to play spoiler again.
To make that happen, New Orleans will need to sustain some flow on offense that has been difficult to muster without Williamson, who is sidelined indefinitely with a hamstring injury. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum lead a clunky attack that is heavy on isolation opportunities and midrange jumpers, and Pelicans Coach Willie Green will hope that second-year forward Trey Murphy III can continue his late-season surge from beyond the arc.
“I heard them hating, I didn’t let it bother me. They thought I’d be on vacation getting ready for the lottery,”. “Every game that went by, we kept bringing up the rank. We were ready for war, they kept bringing up the tanks.”
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