In this post we’ll go over our preview and predictions for the second/final round of the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. The winner of this game will be awarded the 8th seed in the Eastern conference playoffs, and the loser will go home. To see how we got to this point, make sure to check out our first round previews for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, where we went a combined 3 for 4 on predictions.
Washington Wizards (8) vs Indiana Pacers (9)
Prediction: Wizards
Reasoning:
After their loss to the Boston Celtics 118-100 in the first round of the Eastern conference play-in tournament, the Washington Wizards will have to face off against the Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Charlotte Hornets 144-117. If we’re going solely off of these scores, it would seem obvious to pick the pacers. However, there’s still reason to believe in the Wizards.
Despite getting blown out, the Wizards actually looked good in the first half, where they had an 8 point lead with two minutes left. It was the second half where the wheels fell off. In the third quarter, the Celtics had an early 14-0 run, and they never looked back, continuing to extend their lead through the rest of the game. The Wizards top-ten defense didn’t live up to its standards, as Tatum went off for 50 points and Kemba scored 29 points. The difference with the Pacers is that it’s unlikely any of them will put up a scoring performance similar to that of Tatum or even Kemba. In their absolutely dominating win over the Hornets, no one on the Pacers scored more than 23 points. Just like in the regular season, they have no true star, and the Wizards have two. That raises the question: what happened to the Wizard’s stars.
Bradley Beal fell well below his regular season average of 31.3 ppg, only putting up 22 points on an inefficient 10/25 shooting. Westbrook wasn’t good either, putting up a statline of 20/14/5 on a horrific 6/19 shooting performance. Neither player looked fully engaged in the second half, but now that elimination is on the line, they should hopefully take it seriously and return to their regular season playing. If they do what their capable of, the Wizards will have a huge advantage in terms of star power, and that could be the difference. This is a legacy defining game, and if they truly are the elite players that the numbers make them out to be, Westbrook and Beal will show up.
We’ve been on the Wizards hype-train since the beginning, going against the consensus of analysts and predicting they’d make the playoffs, and we’ve come too far to give up now.
Why the Pacers could still win:
If the first round is any indication of how this game will go, the Pacers should feel very confident in themselves. They were able to win in a blowout without relying on heroics from any of their players, and meanwhile the Wizards got blown out themselves, having horrendous performances from both their stars. Both of these games happened just two days ago, so it’s very much possible that both teams will have similar performances as last time, and if this is the case, there’s no reason the Pacers can’t win.
All-Star Analytics 