2021 Eastern Play-in Games- Round 1

As the 2020–2021 regular season has finally come to a close after a rather strange and tumultuous year for many franchises and players due to injuries, lockdowns and all sorts of other events, the play-in tournament is officially upon us. For this tournament the 7 seed plays the 8 seed in their conference where the winner ends up as the 7 seed and will play the 2 seed in the first round. Meanwhile the loser of this game plays the winner of the 9 and 10 seed from their conference for a spot as the 8 seed. There are so many juicy and even match-ups that I can’t wait to watch them. Let’s get into some predictions in the east!!

Eastern Conference:

9- Indiana Pacers (34–38) vs 10- Charlotte Hornets (33–39):

This match-up looks extremely interesting as the Hornets have beaten the Pacers 2 out of the 3 times. However, in saying this the Hornets have not been in good form having lost their last 5 games even with the return of star rookie LaMelo Ball. Both teams have also dropped off heavily since earlier in the season as both teams were in the 4 seed in the East. In my opinion, the depth of the Pacers with players like Malcom Brogdon and Caris LeVert as second and third options in conjunction with players like Justin Holiday who hit 6 threes in a quarter the other day and Doug McDermott who is shooting 39% from 3 point land slightly outweighs the depth of the Hornets who are without Gordon Hayward. The only chance the Hornets have is by their backcourt comprised of Ball (averaging 15–5–6) and Rozier (who is averaging a career high 20–4–4 with 1.3 steals a game) having a great game and putting together 40+ points combined. They, with De’Vonte Graham can overpower Brogdon and LeVert on their day and must do so. Although Brogdon is a chance to miss, I believe he will still play since it is a big game. Most importantly though is the big man from Lithuania, Domantas Sabonis who this year is averaging a whopping 20–12–6. Simply put the Hornets have no one to stop him and despite Cody Zeller and PJ Washington’s best efforts I think Sabonis will end up having a big night and placing the Pacers into the second play-in game. Pacers by 9 for me- Sabonis to get a 20 point triple double and LeVert to pitch in with 20.

Boston Celtics (36–36) vs 8- Washington Wizards (34–38):

If all teams were fully healthy I think this is a very easy one to pick but with the absence of Jaylen Brown, a genuine star of the league, this game is a really hard one to pick. At the moment, Russell Westbrook is on huge numbers averaging 22–11–11 which is plain ridiculous. They also have Bradley Beal averaging 31 on the season despite having a rough patch to end the season. Hachimura, Smith and Lopez make up a solid core for the Wizards. This Westbrook-Beal backcourt will go up against Walker and Smart. Whilst Walker is a good players, Kemba is not who he once was and is always a liability on defense. Hence, Marcus Smart has a massive role to play as the leader of this Celctics side and as one of the best defenders there is in the league. He has a massive role to play on Beal but I still believe Beal will get 25. However, Jayson Tatum should be able to overpower the Wizards frontcourt and should get at least 25 points with ease. The Celtics’ big men with Grant Williams, Robert Williams, Tristan Thompson and Jabari Parker should outrebound the likes of Lopez, Len and Hachimura. From this, we are basically even with 1 top 20 player in the league and better role players going up against 2 top 20 players. For me, the difference is Davis Bertans. This man is an unbelievable shooter and top 5 in the league. When Westbrook or Beal get double-teamed he rarely misses. He also will likely not have a good match-up on him since Tatum will take Westbrook most times and Smart will guard Beal. With Bertans and his 40% shooting, I believe the Wizards will edge out the Celtics with a few late shots to clinch the 7th seed with a 4 point win. Westbrook for a standard 20 point triple double, Bertans with 2 late threes and Beal for 25 to overpower Tatum’s 30 are more preditcions