Yesterday was technically the 1st of the postseason – the beginning of the NBA’s Play-In Tournament. An event where all the 7th – 10th seeds battle for a playoff spot in their respective conferences: East and West. The Eastern Conference saw the Orlando Magic blow out the mediocre Atlanta Hawks for the 7th Seed, to which they will play defending champs Boston Celtics in the 1st round of the playoffs.
However, on the Pacific side, the Golden State Warriors faced the Memphis Grizzlies. It was a close, tight-knit battle, but the Warriors won the fight 119-116. As hard-fought as it was, there were plenty of questionable moments that happened. On-court decisions and coaching errors galore – are not even the parts that made this game such a wild card of events.
The Warriors got very lucky with this game. The team had moments where the foul call went their way. For example, Jimmy Butler had a driving layup to the rim – yet he was not touched at all and they still gave him free throws. In fact, he had 18 free throws – more than the entire Grizzlies team: a disparity. Furthermore, the Warriors were very loose with the ball – especially Curry, who had 8 turnovers in total. Regardless, these errors didn’t matter because the Warriors pulled through. Curry shot a clutch 3-pointer that later converted into 2 free throws to win the game, ending the night with 37 points. PlayOff Jimmy also woke up scoring 38 points, 7 rebounds, and six assists.
The Grizzlies also played really well despite the questionable fouls. Although Ja Morant had a scary injury, he still played well – scoring 22 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds. Desmond Bane was by far their best teammate as the Reptar had no fear driving and scoring to the rim: 30 points, 4 assists, and 6 rebounds. Their big men, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey, were frustrating as they kept fouling and bricking in close game situations. Edey is a rookie, but he needs to be able to finish Ja’s sneaky passes and not miss them. JJJ being in this league for a long time still doesn’t know how to stop fouling. And the icing on the cake – that 5-second violation. There was a lack of urgency to get to the ball on time, Ja Morant should have been more aware of Santi Aldama trying to inbound the ball, but I guess they lacked the IQ to pull it off on time.
Overall, the Warriors are now the 7th Seed and will be facing the 2nd-Seeded Houston Rockets in the 1st Round. The Grizzlies have not been eliminated from their playoff hopes yet. As they still have to face the winner of the Dallas Mavericks Vs Sacramento Kings game, in order to attain the 8th seed. In the meantime, the Memphis Grizzlies are still safe, but they need to be more aware of the game for this time.
