The regular season has reached its conclusion, and the stage is set for the 2021 NBA Playoffs. At least, almost set.

Before things get into full swing, we’ll be witnessing the league’s Inaugural Play-In Tournament, outside of last year’s Disney Springs bubble at Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, Florida.

And if you thought last night’s Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament included some of the biggest names and some of the most pulsating moments of this season, you (likely) ain’t seen nothing yet.

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The 7th and 8th seed match-up in the West will include LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers versus Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, and the Golden State Warriors. And, our 9th and 10th seed match-up has Ja Morant’s young Memphis Grizzlies going up against DeMar DeRozan’s San Antonio Spurs.

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Game One: No. 10 San Antonio Spurs (33-39) vs. No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies (38-34)

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Game one of the Western Play-In Tournament features the likes of two squads who are on the outside looking in, with dire consequences on their tails should they lose tonight’s play-in second-round qualifier. Remember, the loser of the 9-10 will be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, and as it pertains to both the Spurs and Grizzlies, who have failed to make the postseason for the past three to four years (Memphis last qualified for the postseason in 2017 where they were, fittingly, eliminated in six games by Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs).

The tales for both of these teams competing in the Southwest division have been awash with injuries and COVID-19 complications, as both teams have amassed a litany of missed games, integral stars being out for a while and being traded away, with lineup changes aplenty occurring for both teams throughout the year.

But both teams are here, in a single-elimination scenario where Memphis handled ole’ Silver and Black on multiple occasions, beating the Spurs 2-1 in the regular season. And to make matters worse, The Spurs has anything but momentum heading into this Wild Card contest of a Play-In game, having lost 10 of their last 12 games while adversary Memphis finished their regular season strong (barring their 113-101 loss and season-closer to the Warriors) as winners of five of their final six. And with a 29-point blowout handed to Dallas as part of their season finishing up, Memphis is feeling confident heading into this do-or-die game against San Antonio.

San Antonio and Memphis play the same type of game – assist-heavy halfcourt-favoring offenses that don’t value the three ball, commit few turnovers, and have versatile guards that are adept slashers and who space the floor to create looks for the five on the floor. However, Memphis plays a lot faster and gets downhill ad nauseam with Ja running a variety of Pick N’ Roll sets with both Jonas Valanciunas and the recently-returning Jaren Jackson Jr.

But while the Spurs may have the core to at the least slow Morant down with both DeRozan and Jakob Poetl rejecting driving angles at the top of the key with a switch-heavy scheme, the 17th ranked defense in terms of Defensive rating (112 DRtg./ 112.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) will have their hands full trying to stop one of the league’s best young scorers in a game he’s determined to show up for, as he had a similar opportunity in last year’s inaugural Play-In Tournament but failed to do so against Damian Lillard’s healthy Portland Trail Blazers last season.

San Antonio is on the end of being shorthanded, with Derrick White’s toe complications taking a toll on his availability as he was announced as out for the season a few months ago. And without his presence, a shrunken floor is a problem. DeRozan’s performance is a big factor (obviously) but the pressure is very-much-so on rising two-way guard Dillon Brooks, who is becoming one of the most reliable defenders in the NBA. Should his presence be felt, and DeRozan struggle to find a rhythm tonight, Memphis could be heading to the playoffs for the first time in nearly five years.

Game one of the Western Play-In tips off on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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Game Two: No. 8 Golden State Warriors (39-33) vs. No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers (42-30)

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Wherever LeBron James goes, it seems like he just can’t avoid Stephen Curry in the postseason for long.

For the first time in both franchises’ history, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors have a slim margin for error as they both are fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference’s second-ever Play-In Tournament.

While Los Angeles is maybe more confident than any other 7th seed in NBA history heading into their first Play-In Tournament, they have to realize that they too are susceptible to the regular upset. And what better chance of that happening to them when they get their first taste of the title defense against who is largely considered the third-best bet to win this year’s MVP trophy in Stephen Curry, this year’s scoring champion and the oldest scoring champion since Michael Jordan in the ’95-’96 season.

The Two-time MVP and three-time champ has made quite the roar in recent weeks, helping his Dubs finish the season as winners of eight of their last 10. And of course, the obstacle that stands in the way of making it back to the playoffs and getting on the road to obtaining title No. 5 for LeBron James is stopping the seemingly unavoidable Stephen Curry from going off.

Again.

With health on the Lakers side (finally) they’ve shown that it’s more than possible to both slow the greatest shooter in NBA history down as much as possible, and on the other end, find the frontcourt mismatches (other than Draymond Green) that both LeBron and Anthony Davis present and incessantly exploit them. During their first win over Golden State on February 28th, they showcased one of their best defensive efforts of the season against any opposing No. 1 scoring option, limiting Curry to only 16 points points off 5-13 shooting with only two threes out of seven attempts.

And going 2-1 against Golden State on the season with both of their wins coming by an average win margin of 28.5 points, the Lakers appear to have found the lessened Warriors’ weaknesses. But guarding Stephen Curry for all four quarters with only one man in Dennis Schroeder may not be the best idea altogether, even if he limited Curry to only six made shots on 19 attempts when he was on him during the last matchup between the two.

It’ll have to be by committee, since you’re better off running a 5k for cardio than chasing Curry off of every Dribble Handoff, back screen, and down pick while staying out of four trouble for 48 minutes. Through 62 games this season, Chef Curry has cooked, averaging a career-high and league-leading 32 points per game off 48.2 percent shooting and 43.3 percent from downtown.

And adjacently, Andrew Wiggins has improved mightily from he and Kelly Oubre’s rough start of the 2020-21 season, averaging a solid 18.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists off of 47.9 percent shooting between the months of January and April of 2021, but shooting just below the league-average of 39 percent from downtown, only amassing around 37.9 percent of his attempts from deep.

As for the Lakers, who are still the NBA’s leader in defensive rating (106.8 DRtg./107.1 points allowed per 100 possessions), there’s no secret their frontcourt has to set the tone and control the pace of the floor during those minutes where Stephen Curry is on the floor.

And conversely, on both ends of the court, they’ll need to take away every opening and gap of space for Curry and their rotation of shooters like Jordan Poole and Mychal Moulder, made by the screens in Steve Kerr’s motion offense. With the Lakers’ halfcourt offense revolving around the best facilitating Forward the game’s ever seen in LeBron James and a nightmare of a matchup in Anthony Davis on the low block/roll-man during he and LBJ’s continual running of PnR sets, you have to feel like this isn’t the world’s most favorable matchup for the Warriors.

But, the beauty of these Play-In games is that, well, you never really have an idea of what’ll happen in the four boundaries and 94 feet until tip-off.

Game two of the Western Play-in Tournament tips off at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Photo cred: NBAAnalysis.net