This is why these two teams finished within the Top-8 in their, respective, conferences. Both the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Miami Heat beat off their lower-seeded opponents as they handily won their Play-In games, cementing them as the 8th seeds in their, respective, conferences.
Like I said, the results of these two games are why the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Miami Heat finished within the Top-8 seeds of their, respective, conferences.
With the Timberwolves hammering the OKC Thunder 120-95 and the Heat smashing the Bulls 102-91, the Play-In tournament came to a predicted close as the 7th and 8th seeds of both conferences both made the playoffs (with the West finishing in the exact order the regular season concluded).
Now, I’m not saying the Play-In tournament should be disbanded as the Bulls and Thunder being the first 10 seeds to reach the final Play-In game is impressive, but the gulf of quality between the best eight teams in the NBA and the peripheral teams is on full display for the entire basketball nation.
At least the Bulls vs. Heat game was competitive for 44 minutes or so as the Bulls, who were playing without Lonzo Ball, gave the Heat a real run for their money before Jimmy Butler, Max Straus, and Bam Adebayo took over.
Seriously, the top-end talent difference between these two teams is so dramatic as even though the Bulls possess all-stars like DeMar DeRozan and Zack LaVine, the Heat are able to roll out numerous 1st-Team All-NBA veterans and guys who’ve made it to the NBA Finals only a few years ago to win big games in the biggest moments.
I mean, it’s pretty much the sole reason why the Heat outscored the Bulls 22-6 in the final 5:30 minutes of the 4th quarter as the Heat, who have been in tough playoff situations before, simply knew what it took to win a winner-take-all playoff game.
Reversely, the Bulls stars, DeMar DeRozan (who has made just 1 Eastern Conference Finals), Zack LaVine (who has never made it past the 1st round), and Nikola Vučević (who has never made it past the 1st round), simply didn’t have the experience and nuance to shut out the loud, boisterous Miami crowd and kill the devastating Miami 22-6 scoring run in its infancy.
Still, I have to give credit to the Bulls for just being able to turn around their rudderless season and get within one game of a playoff berth as they had no business to be even in sight of the playoffs three months ago.
Anyways, as for the Thunder vs. Timberwolves, that game was a slaughter from the first minute.
The reintroduction of Rudy Gobert, who was able to control his urges to punch his teammates for the game, in the lineup was huge as it not only gave the Thunder two big men to deal with (Karl-Anthony Towns being the other), but he also was a monster in the paint. Along with KAT’s 28 PTS, 11 REB, and 3 AST, Rudy Gobert put up 21 PTS, 10 REB, 2 AST as the pair put up 45% of the Timberwolves rebounds and 41% of the points.
Simply put, despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being a beast with 22 PTS, 7 REB, and 3 AST, the Thunder were totally outclassed by a stronger, aggressive, taller, and more physical Timberwolves side. But, as I said for the Bulls, that’s to be expected when the 10th seed (out of 15/16 depending on conference) in the faces off against the 8th seed.
Now, I personally think the Heat actually have a very slim chance of pulling off one of the greatest upsets in NBA history as they play against the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1st round due to their prior playoff history, but I’m talking about a 1-2% chance here.
As for the Timberwolves, I think they’re screwed against Nikola Jovic’s Denver Nuggets as Denver plays far more physical, dynamic, and athletic on the perimeter than the Thunder, which is the biggest reason why SGA and crew didn’t pull off the upset I thought they were capable of.
Nevertheless, this was easily the best Play-In tournament so far…even if the favorites all made it through to the next round.
Images Source: Featured Image:
