LA Lakers, Atlanta Hawks Win Play-In Games, Secure No.7 Seed

The LA Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks clinched seventh seeds in their respective conferences with wins in the first round of the play in the tournament. The Lakers were better than the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Crypto.com Arena, while the Hawks beat the Miami Heat on the road in Florida. 

Lakers Survive the T-Wolves

LeBron and the boys had to go through overtime to beat the Timberwolves, who were without Rudy Gobert. It was 108-102 for the purple and gold, who were behind during most of the event. Yet in the end, the T-Wolves were those who had to catch up with the deficit, as Mike Conley leveled the score from the free throw line sending the game to overtime. Anthony Davis fouled him while Conley wanted to shoot for three, and the referees immediately called for a foul.

After five minutes of the grueling fight, the hosts finally broke down the feisty opponents who played excellent basketball. 

Karl-Anthony Towns had a double-double with 24 points and 11 boards, 8-for-12 FG, and five assists. Mike Conley had 23 points with four boards, assists and three steals with six threes, while Anthony Edwards had one of the worst performances of the season scoring only nine points and missing all of his nine three-point shots. Without him, the T-Wolves managed to make 16 downtown hits.

On the other end, the Lakers had three 20+point players, with LeBron leading the way, scoring 30 buckets and having ten boards and six assists. Davis was superb too, with 24 points and 15 boards, four assists, three blocks, and two steals, and the best player on the court. 

Dennis Schroder came off the bench to add 21 buckets and was a much-needed spark in the Lakers’ game. The German changed the rhythm on the floor and was unstoppable for Minnesota’s defense.

The Lakers are now heading to Memphis, where they face the Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Ja and the guys were second in the division behind the Nuggets.

Hawks Knockout the Shaky Heat

It was just a matter of time before the Miami Heat collapsed, and the first play in the game was just a perfect moment for that to occur. The Atlanta Hawks visited the Miami-Dade Arena and defeated the hosts 116-105 in the first round of the play-in tournament, clinching the No.7 in the East.

Trae and the crew were controlling the situation immediately, pulling away to ten points early on. Midway through the second period, they were up 23 buckets, and at that moment, it was obvious that the Heat weren’t going to win the event. 

Atlanta’s domination on the glass and their 63 boards compared to only 39 of the hosts was the main reason why they defeated the rivals that easily. The Hawks had 22 offensive rebounds, compared to only six of the Heat.

Young had 25 points, while Clint Capela had four, but with 21 boards. Saddiq Bay added 17 off the bench, and Dejuonte Murray had 18. Bogdanovic ended the night with 14. 

Kyle Lowry dropped 33 off the bench for the Heat, Herro scored 26 and Jimmy Butler added 21 with nine assists.