So for my first Play-In Tournament predictions I went 2/4. It was almost going to be 3/4 if DeMar Derozan’s daughter didn’t go Game 7 Bron mode on the Raptors free throws. At least I called the upset by Oklahoma City against the Pelicans. The league gotta start putting their respect on this young Thunder team. They are going to be a legitimate threat in two to three years. We got two more games to cover until it all starts on Saturday. Let’s get into it.
(7) Miami Heat vs (10) Chicago Bulls (Today at 7:00 p.m.)
The Heat are just sorry. And very soon this team will be sent to basketball purgatory. Their roster is just not good enough for another deep run in the playoffs. Their contending window was open from the bubble until last year’s Conference Finals against the Celtics, and that window has swiftly closed. Kyle Lowry (37) and Jimmy Butler (33) are nearing the twilight of their careers. Meanwhile the young players on the Heat like Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo have shown that they can’t consistently show up when the bright lights are on. Jimmy Butler is under contract until the 2025-26 season where he has a player option of $52.4 MILLION AT THE AGE OF 36. You are not LeBron brother. And this is nothing against Jimmy Butler because he is an absolute fighter and I respect his game, but he’s not leading this Heat team to a Championship. Kyle Lowry is 37 years old and he’s making $29.6 million next year. It’s time to wrap it up.
Prediction: CHI 108, MIA 101
(8) Minnesota Timberwolves vs (10) Oklahoma City Thunder (Today at 9:30 p.m.)
No one gave the Thunder a chance going into the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night, but I did. And I’m going to back them to win once again on the road in a do-or-die game. The Timberwolves aren’t a bad team. They have superstar talent in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. However, they have a serious problem when the bright lights come on in the postseason. We all saw it last year in the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies. They would go ahead early in the game and then two things would happen. KAT would get into foul trouble and the whole team would start constantly settling for three-pointers that just wouldn’t fall. A prime example of this is Game 3 of that series against the Grizzlies last year. With 5:45 left in the second quarter the Timberwolves were up 51-29 at home. The quarter ended 51-44, here are the Timberwolves offensive possessions from that 5:45 mark until halftime.
- J. McDaniels misses 2-pt jumper (5:21)
- K. Towns misses 3-pt jumper (4:42)
- T. Prince misses lay-up (4:03)
- K. Towns offensive foul (3:41)
- D. Russell offensive foul (3:21)
- M. Beasley misses 3-pt jumper (2:35)
- A. Edwards misses 3-pt jumper (2:00)
- P. Beverley misses 3-pt jumper (1:19)
- K. Towns offensive foul (0:39)
- Shot Clock Violation (0:07)
You want to find another example of this? Literally go to the third quarter of the SAME EXACT GAME where the Timberwolves fumbled a 25-point lead at home. How do you lose two 20+ point leads in the same game. At home. In the playoffs. You may say, “well Yanni, that was last year. The wolves are a different team now.”
And to that I say… you are wrong. They lead the league in most double-digit leads blown this year and suffered the same fate against the Lakers in the first play-in game. Even though they were short-handed and nobody expected them to win, the Wolves found themselves up 15 points in the third quarter. At the 6:01 mark in the fourth quarter Mike Conley hit a step-back three to put them up 95-88. They did not score a single point until the 0.1 second mark when Conley hit three free throws in a row to send the game to overtime. Bottom line is I do not trust this Wolves team. And even if they win this game against OKC, neither should you.
Prediction: OKC 119, MIN 111
We got one more day until the full power of playoff basketball unleashes. Words cannot describe my excitement. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
