NBA Play-In Tournament

by: Andrew Brown

Rules: The 7 and 8 seeds of both conferences will play one game. The winner of the side will receive a spot in the playoffs facing the 2 seed while the loser of this game will get another chance to get in the playoffs as it will play the winner of the 9 and 10 seed games. The winner of the 7/8 seed game on the western side will play the 2 seed Denver Nuggets and the winner of the eastern seed side will play the 2 seed New York Knicks. After those seeds play, the 9/10 seeds will play. The winner of the 9/10 seed game will go on to play the loser of the 7/8 seed to get a spot in the playoffs against the number 1 seed. Whoever loses this matchup will be eliminated from the playoffs.

Western Conference
Tuesday 16

8 Lakers vs #7 Pelicans 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Pelicans. The Lakers won the regular season series 3-1. With Zion looking better than ever I see him having a really good game. With Zion being physically matched to handle Lebron strength expect him to have a low scoring game. With them being one of the best defensive teams in the league it’ll be hard for the Lakers to get shots up especially in the paint as they rank number 5 in the nba in opposing teams points in the paint per game. But scoring in the paint is one thing the Lakers are good at. The Lakers are the second best team in the Nba in doing that. The Lakers also might lose this game on purpose just so they don’t have to play the Nuggets. This game is going to come down to Zion, whoever wins the battle down low and if the Lakers are hitting from deep.

10 Warriors vs #9 Kings 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Kings. The regular season series was a tie at 2 apiece (2-2). This team feeds off energy and when they get hype they get hot. After the Warriors made them pack their bags up last year this is a revenge game. For the Kings this game is more than making the playoffs. They want to destroy the Warriors and let them know how it feels. I expect Fox and Sabonis to have big games and send the Warriors home. As for the Warriors Curry likes to be
the villain. He has carried his team to the playoffs and when you think they have no way of winning he shows up and gets it done. If he isn’t shooting well in this game then they have no chance of winning. With that being said Veterans like Klay and Paul need to use their experience to help Curry out and win this game.

Eastern Conference
Wednesday 17

8 Heat vs #7 76ers 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: 76ers. The regular season series was a tie at 2 apiece (2-2). With Embiid back, winning will be much easier for the 76ers. When Embiid plays they win 79% of their games (31-8) but when he doesn’t play they win 37% of their games (16-27) which means they are losing 63% of their games when he doesn’t play. As for tonight, Embiid should easily score. Losing will be embarrassing especially when they only have Jimmy Butler. As for the Heat, their only priority for this game is slowing down Embiid. Playoff Jimmy also needs to be activated for this game in order to win and get into the playoffs.

10 Hawks vs #9 Bulls 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Hawks. The Bulls have won the regular season series 2-1. This team is hard to figure out. They can beat the number 1 Celtics back to back nights and then lose to the Hornets 2 weeks later. Even though they are on a 6 game losing streak Trae Young and the Hawks won’t go out without a fight. They know that if they lose their season is over so I expect Young and Murray to come out aggressively and have big games. As for the Bulls who have been dealing with injuries this season they just need to focus and win this game. Demar DeRosen needs to come up big to win this game.

Eastern/ Western Conference
Friday 19

Winner of Eastern #9/10 vs Loser of Eastern #7/8 Time TBD

Winner of Western #9/10 vs Loser of Western #7/8 Time TBD

Top Nba games for February 5-11, 2024

By: Andrew Brown

Monday 5, 2024

Warriors vs Hornets 7:00pm

Who’s going to win: Lakers, With Lebron James on your team, how can you lose especially when you play the Charlotte Hornets. Playing against a young team, AD and Lebron should dominate because of how long they’ve played. For the Hornets, they’ve never been good. With the rookie Brandon Miller finding his rhythm this team has a better chance of winning. The Hornets need to make some big time trades for picks or players or they’ll just keep being one of the worst teams in the league.

Clippers vs Hawks 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Clippers, they have too many experienced players being one of the oldest teams in the league. After showcasing their talent against the top seed Celtics, this team could easily make it to the finals. The one question is can they stay healthy. Kawhi missed 30 games, PG missed 26, and Harden missed 24 last season. If they can stay healthy they could be taking the trophy home this year. For the Hawks, people forget how good this team can be. If you sleep on this team they will make you pay like they did to the 76ers and Thunder the last time they played. With Trae and Murray getting better each game and the rise of Johnson, once again is not a team to play around with.

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Tuesday 6, 2024

Mavs vs Nets 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Mavs, the Mavs have the best front court in the league with Luka and Kyrie. When one is not feeling it the other steps up. For the Nets this team is just trying to figure each other out. Most of the players have been traded to that team in the past year with their best player being Mikal Bridges scoring 22 ppg. To win they literally just have to stop Luka. Luka is surprisingly leading their team in scoring, rebounds, and assists with 35-9-10. He’s the key to the Mavs winning.

Bucks vs Suns 10:00

Who’s going to win: Bucks, after hiring their new coach Doc Rivers expect them to be a better team on defense. Ranking number 24 -out of 30 teams- their defense is one of the worst in the NBA. The only reason they are second in the east is because of their offense. It’s almost impossible to guard with Giannis and Dame. You cannot let Giannis inside because he’ll kick it out to shooters or just score and you can’t let Dame shoot. For the Suns they have KD and Booker. Booker recently coming off a 62 point game he will be hard to stop along with KD. If the Bucks defense woes keep going then the Suns will have an easy day.

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Wednesday 7, 2024

Warriors vs 76ers 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: 76ers, With Embiid they are unstoppable. Their whole offense is literally to give Embiid the ball, get out of the way, and be ready to shoot if he passes (he’ll probably won’t pass). With the Warriors having no center he can probably score 70 on this team. If the Warriors want to win they need to get back on track from 3. They won’t be able to score in the paint with Embiid roaming the paint. They need to focus on the 3 to win.

Pelicans vs Clippers 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Pelicans, this team is underrated with Zion, McCollum, and Ingram. If Zion stays in shape this team can make some runs. The Pelicans also have one of the best scoring benches in the league. With the Clippers’ big 3 it’ll be hard for the Pelicans to stop. This game will be close but I think the Pelicans will pull off the upset.

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Thursday 8, 2024

Mavs vs Knicks 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Knicks, The Knicks are on a 8 game winning streak with one of them being a blowout win against the reigning champs. They’ve been doing that without Randle. Ever since the OG trade this team has what it was looking for. For the Mavs their two stars have been out with injuries. They probably won’t even play this game. For the mavs they have a decent defense. The Knicks scored 122 on the Nuggets and held them to 84 points. If they want to win, they will have to step it up on the defensive side.

Nuggets vs Lakers 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Lakers, with everyone watching this game I believe Lebron will have a big game and pull out the win. It also depends on if the Lakers will let Lebron or Davis play. If they don’t then the Nuggets should easily win. For the Nuggets Jokic will probably have a triple double but it won’t be enough for the win.

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Friday 9, 2024

Rockets vs Raptors 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Rockets, the rockets have turned it around from last season winning the same amount of games last season. With them hiring the new coach, getting Vanvleet, and brooks this team is trending in the right direction. Their Sophomores and rookies are also stepping up and knowing their roles. As for the Raptor this team will take a while to develop. After the trade this team is just figuring each other out and will soon be winning games.

Hornets vs Bucks 8:00pm

Who’s going to win: Bucks, unless the bucks decide not to play the starters they should easily win. With the nasty duo of Lillard and Giannis it will be extremely difficult for the Hornets to win. Giannis wil roam the paint while Lillard will hit from deep. With the improvement of Brandon Miller (who just won the eastern conference rookie of the month) he can be just what they need. All the Hornets need is another star and a good bench with players who want to win.

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Saturday 10, 2024

Bulls vs Magic 7:00pm

Who’s going to win: Magic, the magic will win this game simply because of the injuries on the Bulls. As I said in my last blog the Magic were on fire to start the season and now they’ve cooled down. The need to start their winning streak again and have momentum going into the all star break. For the Bull with the absence of LaVine White has had to step up. On track to winning the most improved player going from 9 ppg to 19. This team needs to restart and get a good pick in the draft so they can actually win.

Suns vs Warriors 8:30pm

Who’s going to win: Suns, KD return’s back to the Bay to go against his old team. With KD, Booker, and Beal they shouldn’t have lost 20 games. They need to stay healthy if they want a chance at the finals. For the warriors at this point their only way of winning is Curry. They just need to trade everyone and start over with them building around curry.

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Sunday 11, 2024

Celtics vs Heat 2:00pm

Who’s going to win: Celtics, The last time they played the Celtics destroyed them. No one on the Heat could score with the Celtics number one defense and if they did the Celtics would answer back with their number number one offense. If no injuries occur and they keep playing how they’re playing then they should be 2024 NBA champs. For the Heat who just acquired Rozier they have a lot of work to do to get this team to the finals. But who knows Butler could carry them to another finals appearance.

Kings vs Thunder 3:00pm

Who’s going to win: Kings, the number 5 Kings going at number 2 Thunder. With Fox and Sabonis leading their team to the first playoff game in decades this team will win and show that they mean business. For the Thunder their young star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading them to a number 2 seed in the west. This team came out of the blue, last year they had a losing record with 40-42 in 10th place. Now they’re 31-13. This all round team is top 10 in both defensive and offensive ppg rankings. But it will not be enough for them to win.

Top NBA Games for January 29-February 4

By: Andrew Brown

Monday 29, 2024

Celtics vs Pelicans 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Celtics, the Celtics strength is having Tatum and Brown arguably the best duo in the NBA it’s hard to stop them their weakness is their bench the Celtics rank last in the NBA in bench ppg. The Celtics will win because of their players and how good they are coached. For the Pelicans they have Zion, their best player who’s averaging 22 ppg. If they want to win they need to limit their turnovers and keep getting steals which they are third in the NBA in.
Suns vs Heat 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Suns, the Suns have a really good perimeter offense and rely on that shot. Everyone on their team can shoot and are a dangerous team when they are hot and healthy. The Heat might have found the player they needed recently trading Lowry for Rozier from the Hornets. I would pick this team to win but they just can’t score on offense rankings 20th in ppg.
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Tuesday 30, 2024

Laker vs Hawks 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Hawks, Dejounte Murray has been what the Hawks needed when they got him, a second star behind Trae Young. Averaging 22 ppg they now are probably more hesitant in trading him. As for the Lakers who are trying to acquire him they need some work on their bench. Once their starters come out there are no names on the court which requires the starters to play more. The Lakers are also good at getting stars and making them worse and trading
young players who end up as stars.

76ers vs Warriors 10:00
Who’s going to win: 76ers, The Warriors have no big man to compete against the big man Embiid. Not only do they have no big man, they have no defense at all, ranking 27th out of 30 teams in the NBA. Plus players don’t want to be on the team. For the 76ers, Embiid just recently coming off a scorching 70 point game along with 18 rebounds. Only 9 players in NBA history have scored 70 plus points. The warriors will have to pack the paint which will lead to a lot of 3s
from the 76ers which they are good at.
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Wednesday 31, 2024

Pistons vs Cavs 7:00pm
Who’s going to win: Pistons, The pistons have to win at some point. I think they’re going to win and turn this team into the right direction. The pistons will obviously be making moves to rebuild and get some players or picks. I think the Cavs will have one of those nights and play their worst game of the season but will still be close.
Bucks vs Trail Blazers 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Bucks, with their new head coach Doc Rivers, expect their defense to be a lot better. Even though they’re 31-13 they rank one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. The Trail Blazers are just getting started doing big trades in the offseason and getting Scoot Henderson with the 3rd pick. The future is bright for this team.
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Thursday 1, 2024

Lakers vs Celtics 7:30pm
Who’s going to win: Celtics, the two biggest rivals in the NBA going head to head. With both teams having the same amount of chips (18), this game just means more. The last time they played was on Christmas in which the Celtics won by 11. The Celtics starting 5 combined 108 points out of 126 points with the leading scorer being Porzingis with 28. The Celtics should easily win this with all their talent. The Lakers starting lineup will not be able to handle the
Celtics starting 5 and it should look the same with the Celtics starters scoring much of their points.

76ers vs Jazz 10:00pm
Who’s going to win: Jazz, This team is young with their best player being Lauri Markkanen who’s average 24ppg. This team leans on their young players like George, Agbaji, and Kessler who are both good defenders and scores. They will win because of their grit. If they can beat them once they can beat them twice. For the 76ers the last time they played they lost by 11 and Markkanen and Sexton combined for 55 out of their 120 points. Embiid also didn’t play so that’s
also a big reason why they lost. It should be a close one this time.
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Friday 2, 2024

Warriors vs Grizzlies 8:00pm
Who’s going to win: Grizzlies, The last time these two teams played the injured grizzlies embarrassed the heathy Warriors on live TV leaving the Warriors with many questions. In that same game the rookies GG Jackson and Vince Williams combined for an impressive 47 points with the leading scorer being Vince Williams. The Warriors looked like they didn’t care about that game, letting two rookies who barely played the whole season cook them. Hopefully they can actually play defense and get back on track.
Magic vs Timberwolves 8:00pm
Who’s going to win: Timberwolves, the Wolves have the best defense in the NBA thanks to the big men KAT and Gobert (who are both 7 feet tall). This team is just so big and tall (except for Conley) that it’s almost too easy to score, especially down low. The Magic are another young team with their best player being the power forward Paolo Banchero averaging 23 ppg. At the
start of the season they were looked at as the conference contenders. They were even the number 3 seed in the east, but since then they’re 7-14. If they want to win we need to see the team that we saw at the start of the season.
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Saturday 3, 2024

Bulls vs Kings 8:00pm
Who’s going to win: Kings, Last season the Kings went to the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons, one of the longest playoff droughts in sports history. Even though they made the playoffs they were first round exits. But now this season they’re looking for more. As for the Bulls, if they keep playing like this they won’t even make the play-in tournament. They need to trade, rebuild, and hope for a better future.

Lakers vs Knicks 8:30pm
Who’s going to win: Knicks, with the newly added OG Anunoby they’ve gotten better offensively and defensively. Since the trade they have been 11-2 with dominating wins over the top teams in the NBA. Jalen Bruson has also been on fire lately and I bet he’s frustrated that he got snubbed from the NBA all star starters list. Last time the Lakers played this team Lebron had a triple double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. AD and Austin Reaves combined for
52 points, other than that no one else had over 10 points. If they want to win they need other players to contribute more than 9 points.
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Sunday 4, 2024

Clippers vs Heat 6:00pm
Who’s going to win: Clippers, with all their super stars. Ever since the James Harden trade they have been better. They now have a guy who can just score when PG or Kawaii is out. For the Heat who lost the last time they played they’ve also gotten a new guy, Rozier. A young point guard that can do anything offensively. A player who can take the stress off of Butler on offense.
Another player who has taken off some stress is the rookie Triple J has been having a wonderful rookie campaign. Averaging 14 ppg, he is one of the best rookies in his class and is close on the ROTY (Rookie Of The Year) list. They will need to lean on both Roizer and Triple J to win this.
Raptors vs Thunder 7:00pm
Who’s going to win: Thunder, their young star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading them to a number 1 seed in the west. This team came out of the blue, last year they had a losing record with 40-42 in 10th place. Now they’re 31-13. This all round team is top 10 in both defensive and offensive ppg rankings. For the Raptors this is the first look at this team. They have been heavily in rebuild mode trading away 2 of their best players in return for 5 role players, 3 first
round picks, and a second round pick. This team is trending up.

Top NBA games for January 22-28, 2024

By: Andrew Brown

Monday 22, 2024

Spurs vs 76ers 7:00pm

Who’s going to win: 76ers, The big man Embiid (Center) has been on fire this season, he hasn’t scored under 30 points since November the 15th and it looks like it won’t end either. He also is making a strong case for another MVP.

Kings vs Hawks 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Kings, the Hawks are good on offense but their defense puts up questions. They rank 22nd out of 30 teams defensively. If the Hawks want to win they either need Trae Young (Point Guard) to go off or just simply play good defense.

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Tuesday 23, 2024

Knicks vs Nets 7:00pm

Who’s going to win: Knicks, the Knicks have been a much better team defensively and offense since acquiring OG Anunoby (Small/ Power Forward). They should easily win this game.

Lakers vs Clippers 9:30

Who’s going to win: Clippers, it’s a battle for the best team in LA. The Clippers have a stacked team, the lakers… not so much. If the Lakers want to win, other players like D’Angelo Russel (Point Guard) and Austin Reaves (Shooting Guard) need to step up.

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Wednesday 24, 2024

Suns vs Mavs 8:30pm

Who’s going to win: Suns, Two former teammates squaring off Kevin Durant (Power forward) and Kyrie Irving (Point guard). The Mavs have been on fire lately with Kyrie and Hardaway (Small Forward) combining for 83 a couple games ago, but I think they will cool down and drop this Game.

Thunder vs Spurs 9:30pm

Who’s going to win: Thunder, This game won’t be close but it will be interesting to watch the two leading rookie of the year candidates who are also both over 7 feet tall Victor Wembyama (Center) and Chet Holmgren (Center).

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Thursday 25, 2024

Heat vs Celtics 7:30pm

Who’s going to win: Celtics, It’s rival week one of the best weeks in the NBA. The Celtics should steamroll through the Heat as their roster is just unstoppable.

Warriors vs Kings 10:00pm

Who’s going to win: Kings, The Warriors have been awful this year with them losing to basically the Memphis Grizzlies G-League a couple of games ago. The Warriors’ only way of winning is if Curry (Point Guard) goes off. Also expect the Warriors to trade most of their team, obviously except for Curry.

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Friday 26, 2024

Magic vs Grizzlies 8:00pm

Who’s going to win: Grizzlies, with the Grizzlies getting an impressive win over the Warriors this team is not a team to joke around with. With all of the injuries the Grizzlies have had this season players like GG Jackson the Small Forward from the University of South Carolina have had to step up. Having his best game of his career I expect him to get more minutes and have another career night against this team.

Cavs vs Bucks 8:00pm

Who’s going to win: Bucks, Giannis (Power Forward) and Lillard (Point Guard) should have a game with the short handed Cavs but don’t expect Mitchell (Shooting Guard) to have a bad night.

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Saturday 27, 2024

76ers vs Nuggets 5:30pm

Who’s going to win: 76ers, a huge matchup between the 20201 MVP Nikola Jokić (Center) and the 2022 MVP Joel Embiid. With Maxey (Point Guard) the 76ers have a hard duo to stop.

Lakers vs Warriors 8:30pm

Who’s going to win: Lakers, A lot of people are saying that the Warriors dynasty is over and it looks like the truth. With Thompson (Shooting Guard) not shooting well, players not wanting to be there, and the Draymond Green (Power Forward) situation things are getting out of hand for the Warriors. If they want their players happy and if they want to win the need to trade sooner than later.

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Sunday 28, 2024

Grizzlies vs Pacers 3:30pm

Who’s going to win: Pacers, with the Pacers acquiring Siakam (Power Forward) they might have found the piece they needed to reach the next level. When Halliburton (Point Guard) comes back from his injury he won’t have to carry the team as much and will have a lot more help.

Raptors vs Hawks 6:00pmWho’s going to win: Hawks, with Jalen Johnson (Small Forward) dwelling before our eyes, he is what the Hawks need: a guy who could replace John Collins (Power Forward) who was traded to the Utah Jazz. As for the Raptors they have gone into rebuild mode making a good bit of moves this season. They also acquired 3 first round picks.