NBA Play-In Tournament preview: Miami Heat, LA Lakers look to take big strides

The play-in tournament is set. Two teams with a lot of preseason hype ended up seventh place in each conference: the Miami Heat in the East and the LA Lakers in the West.

The Miami Heat’s chances in the play-in tournament

The Heat clinched the No. 1 seed in the East in 2022. This season, the team teetered up and down the conference standings all season.

Many important players for the Heat missed time this season. Point guard Kyle Lowry played only 55 games. Star Jimmy Butler appeared in 64 of 82 games. Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson played 42 games each.

Bam Adebayo was a bright spot for Miami. He improved from 19.1 points per game last season to 20.4 ppg. He also improved his free-throw shooting percentage from 75.3% to 80.6%.

The Heat will try to erase some of their regular-season play in the playoffs. They will start in the play-in tournament. Miami will host eigth-place Atlanta. The winner will earn the No. 7 seed and face the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Miami closed the season strong, winning four of its final five games. The Heat went 3-1 against the Hawks this season and will be favored at home against Atlanta. If Miami wins, it will have a chance as an underdog against the Celtics. The Heat went 2-2 against Boston this season. The Celtics beat the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals last season.

Butler has proven he can take over a playoff game. He averaged 27.4 ppg and 7.4 rebounds per game in the 2022 playoffs.

The LA Lakers look to make a run in the playoffs

The Lakers started the season at 2-10 and struggled through injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis all season. LA finished the season above .500 and may be playing their best basketball of the season. They are currently 14/1 to win the NBA title.

LA will host the Minnesota Timberwolves in a play-in game. If the Lakers win, they will advance to a first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies. If they lose they will face off against the winner of the 9-10 game between the New Orleans Pelicans and OKC Thunder, with the winner earning the No. 8 seed against the Denver Nuggets.

LA has played Minnesota three times this season, going 1-2. They are 1-1 against the Wolves since trading with the Wolves and Jazz this season.

The Lakers won six of their final seven games of the regular season. Davis or James scored at least 30 points in six of those seven games. LA is also 8-1 when Davis, James and D’Angelo Russel all play.

LA has also stepped it up defensively, ranking first in the West since the trade deadline. The Lakers are also 12th in the league in defensive rating.

James will try to improve upon his past playoff performances with the Lakers. He led them to a title in the bubble in 2020, but missed the playoffs in 2019 and 2022. LA also fell in the first round of the playoffs in 2021.