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 bubble. This year’s Eastern Conference match-ups will include some of the biggest names in the league, with their sights set on making it to the Playoffs. Our 7th and 8th seed match-up will include Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics versus Bradley Beal, Russell Westbrook, and the Washington Wizards. Our 9th and 10th seed match-up has Damontis Sabonis and the Indiana Pacers facing off against LaMelo Ball and the young Charlotte Hornets.

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Boston Celtics (7th) vs. Washington Wizards (8th)

The Celtics and the Wizards find themselves with the opportunity to ensure the 7th seed with only one another standing in their path. During the regular season, the Celtics won the season series 2-1 over the Wizards. However, with star SG Jaylen Brown out of the picture with a recent wrist surgery for Boston, nothing is truly ensured going into this game.

The Celtics surely didn’t see themselves participating in the Play-In Tournament this season, after being 3rd seed and making a Eastern Conference Finals appearances only a season ago. This game will either help or hinder the Celtics’ chances on making another deep Playoff run where they can set the tone for themselves early or find themselves having play extra games just to even participate in the Playoffs. Hopefully for the Celtics they won’t miss Jaylen Brown’s impact too much now with their acquisitions prior to the trade deadline in Evan Fournier and Jabari Parker. As long as the remaining Celtic roster can remain healthy, they may just be able to make the deep Playoff push they were expecting to make.

The Wizards on the other hand didn’t share a similar story going into this season. After trading John Wall for Russell Westbrook, and not starting off the season particularly well, many wrote off the Wizards for a bottom tier team this season. However what many seem to forget is that the Wizards happen to have two of the most underrated, under-appreciated individuals who thrive in defying the odds. Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal slowly worked their way to changing the narrative of the Wizards organization putting themselves into the 8th seed position. However, a big question this season has always been Bradley Beal’s health. Beal has been dealing with a hamstring injury, and reports have stated that said hamstring will not be at 100% by the time of the Play-In.

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Indiana Pacers (9th) vs. Charlotte Hornets (10th)

Although the more difficult route, both the Pacers and the Hornets find themselves with the opportunity to play for the 8th seed. The Hornets had won the regular season series going to 2-1 against the Pacers. Now that LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges are now back in the line-up, they are in a strong position to make the 8th seed. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Indiana Pacers, who currently have 7 players on their Injury List, although 4 players are a game time decision. However with names such as Jeremy Lamb, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren out for the season, All-Star PF Damontis Sabonis and crew have a tall task just to make it to this year’s Playoffs.

Like the Celtics, the Pacers surely didn’t believe they would find themselves participating in this year’s Play-In Tournament after taking the 4th seed last year. The team is definitely hoping to make a deeper Playoff push after having an early First-Round exit to the Miami Heat in the bubble last year. Again it needs to be said that the Pacers are suffering from quite an extensive injury list which hopefully does not hinder their chances during such a crucial time too badly.

On the other side of this match-up, it is an exciting time to be a Hornets fan. After just barely being on the outside of last year’s bubble, they have the chance to make their first Playoff appearance since the 2016 NBA Playoffs. Similarly to the Wizards, the Hornets were not necessarily expected to be in the conversation of the Playoffs now that the Eastern Conference arguably got stronger this season. It will be interesting to see how the fairly young Hornets roster will stack up in post-season basketball. Regardless of how things may unfold for the Hornets, both Hornets fans and fans across the NBA can only hope that their games are announced by Hornets’ announcer in Eric Collins.

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The 2020-2021 NBA Postseason officially begins and 20 teams will now have the opportunity to compete for this year’s NBA Championship. The Play-In Tournament begins on May 18th at 6:30 ET with coverage provided by TNT.