Will Jimmy Butler (left) square off against his former team in the 2023 Play-In Tournament?
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We’re back for an Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament preview to follow up on yesterday’s look ahead in the chaotic West. Things aren’t quite as hectic here, but star power, storylines and seeding battles between these teams are still sure to electrify. Let’s get into it.
Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and the playoff-tested Heat could be Play-In Tournament-bound this season.
Heat Culture: what exactly is it? Can you touch it? Is it part of the air we breathe? Does it taste good sprinkled on a steak?
Whatever Heat Culture may be, this team will need to accumulate as much of it as possible before the postseason begins. We’ve seen Miami make unlikely runs before, and as long as Jimmy Butler AKA James G. Buckets is still the type of player who can single-handedly take over a series, Miami has a fighting chance.
Spoiler alert; he’s still that player. Butler’s true shooting (64.3%) is the highest it’s ever been. So is his Box Plus/Minus (8.4) and his two-point shooting percentage (55.8%). Miami just needs their supporting cast — guys like Gabe Vincent, Max Strus, and Caleb Martin — to get back into 2021-22 form, when each of them was an integral piece of a thrilling Eastern Conference finals run.
Chicago Bulls
Zach LaVine (left) and DeMar DeRozan are hoping to power Chicago back into the playoffs.
Chicago Bulls: Would you be surprised to learn the Bulls rank fifth in defensive rating this season? Well, they do! If you combine that sneakily staunch defense with the outrageous stats Zach LaVine has been posting (28.4 ppg, 43.6% on 3-pointers in March) the Bulls suddenly don’t look like your typical No. 10 seed.
Some Chicago postseason magic may require a true coming out party from Coby White, who has been a difference-maker when he’s been on the floor recently, or Patrick Williams, who is slowly but (almost) surely morphing into the modern 3-and-D archetype that NBA teams so desperately crave.
Atlanta Hawks
Can Dejounte Murray and Trae Young (right) lift the Hawks into the Play-In Tournament mix?
Atlanta’s offense is firing right now. Over the last 15 games, they’re third in points per game at 122.1, helped largely by also being the league’s best offensive rebounding team over that stretch.
Center depth is crucial in the postseason. Luckily, Atlanta has an advantage in that category against most other teams. Onyeka Okongwu is playing the best basketball of his career right now — and his on/off stats point to him being one of Atlanta’s most valuable players. If you’re picking a breakout candidate for the postseason, Okongwu deserves a long look to say the least.
Toronto Raptors
Jakob Poeltl has loomed large in the middle for Toronto ever since it reacquired him at the trade deadline.
A single Jakob can make all the difference in the world. Since the Raptors brought back old friend Jakob Poeltl via trade, they’re 13-9 and the seventh-year center has been a revelation (14.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.3 spg and 1.5 bpg with Toronto).
Don’t expect a wild up-and-down shootout from these Raptors. They have the sixth-slowest pace in the league, so you will not be running through the 6 with these woes. They won’t bail you out, either: Toronto’s turnover rate of 12.0 is tops in the NBA, a great treat in the slugfest that is the NBA postseason.
Brooklyn Nets
Mikal Bridges has posted standout stats ever since being traded to the Nets for Kevin Durant.
Everyone predicted the Nets would make the playoffs this season … just not necessarily with Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton leading the charge. But here we are! Bridges is speed-running a MyCareer storyline right now, posting superstar numbers (27.6 ppg, 41.8% on 3-pointers, 63.5% true shooting) in his time with Brooklyn. Do you think he’s gotten a Coney Dog yet?
Like OKC out West, the Nets are playing with house money — they’ve found a franchise cornerstone this season, which is a win in itself. With that being said, a team with nothing to lose can be a dangerous sight in the playoffs …
Orlando Magic
Markelle Fultz and the Magic’s skilled defense gives them potential to make a last-minute Play-In surge.
The Magic are clinging onto postseason hopes by their fingertips. If you told Orlando fans on Dec. 5 — after a loss to Milwaukee dropped them to 5-20 — that this team would have a mathematical shot at the playoffs entering the last week of the regular season, they probably would have asked if your sense of reality got a little scrambled from too many Space Mountain rides.
Since that day, though, coach Jamahl Mosley had led his young squad to a 29-24 record and the sixth-ranked defense in the league. They’re top ten in steals, defensive rebound rate and opponent points in the paint. Even if they can’t pull off a late-season miracle, this year was a great step forward for a team with lots of building blocks.
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