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One spot remains in the Eastern Conference playoffs, with the Boston Celtics advancing to take the no. 7 after they defeated the Washington Wizards on day 1 of the play-in tournament. Despite the loss, Washington lives to fight another day and will still get a chance to get the 8th seed. This brings us to the Wizards-Pacers NBA play-in game.
Bradley Beal, Russell Westbrook, and the rest of the Wizards will take on the Indiana Pacers, which trounced the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday to send LaMelo Ball and company packing for an early summer, for a do-or-die game to determine the Philadelphia 76ers' opponents for the first round.
The play-in tournament definitely brings a different element to the postseason. Unlike in a 7-game series, teams only play in a one-game knock off and the randomness that one game brings definitely makes things more interesting. The Wizards and Pacers are obviously playing for all the marbles for a chance to secure a postseason berth. With that, here are a couple of spicy predictions for their win-or-go-home battle this Thursday.
1. The Pacers will upset the Wizards
The weird dynamic about this portion of the play-in tournament is that the supposed underdogs are entering the contest coming off a win, whereas the higher seed just came off a defeat and will look to regroup. Indiana looked dominant and absolutely pounded the Charlotte Hornets en route to a 144-117 victory to earn another shot at the postseason. Domantas Sabonis notched a near triple-double with 14 points, 21 rebounds, and nine assists, while Malcolm Brogdon made his return to the floor and looked solid with 16 points and eight assists. The Pacers definitely looked like a well-oiled machine and this suggests they are ready to take on all comers in this play-in battle.
Meanwhile, Washington didn't look the part of a playoff team when the Celtics dominated them in the 7-versus-8 match-up, where Jayson Tatum torched them for 50 points. With the stakes in place, that's almost like giving up 50 points in a playoff game, which often a recipe for disaster. Bradley Beal was clearly still hobbled with his hamstring injury, going just 10-of-25 from the field for 22 points. Russell Westbrook also struggled from the field, as he shot just 6-of-18 for 20 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists.
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Albeit playing on the road, Indiana should enter the game with much more confidence, considering the manner they eliminated Charlotte. Meanwhile, Washington may be feeling down as a result of the dejecting defeat to Boston. This added confidence could spell the difference of how both sides fare on Thursday. One more factor to look at this is Bradley Beal's hamstring injury. Beal is still feeling the effects of his bothersome hamstring and it's likely that he still will not be a hundred percent for this high-stakes affair.
2. This will be Bradley Beal's last game as a Washington Wizard
Failing to make the postseason despite having two chances could be the tipping point for Bradley Beal. Yes, they did finish the regular season strong at 17-6. But the Wizards are still ways away from competing for a title. At his prime, the 27-year old would likely want to be in that position at this point of his career and it's likely his time in Washington has run its course.
Sure, the Westbrook-Beal dynamic was great to end the regular season. But the way they got dominated by an also short-handed Celtics, who were without All-Star guard Jaylen Brown, in the play-in game could indicate that NBA's 2nd leading scorer this season won't find much success if he continues to stay in Washington. Since we're predicting the Pacers to get the 8th seed, this means Washington would fail to make the playoffs with their two chances. With that, this could be the final straw for Beal.
With that, let's go wild by predicting this game to be Bradley Beal's swan song in Washington.
After all of that, who do you guys have winning the Wizards-Pacers NBA play-in game?
