The Play-In is Dead! Long Live the Playoffs! (And Other Friday Night Fever Dreams)
The Play-In is Dead! Long Live the Playoffs! (And Other Friday Night Fever Dreams)
By Sanchez, Your Eyes and Ears (and Occasional Nostril) on the Sideline
Ladies and gentlemen, grab your heavily salted popcorn and your emotional support beverages. Tomorrow, the NBA playoffs start in full force. We’re talking Game 1s. We’re talking actual stakes. We’re talking about players pretending they don’t care about the refereeing until approximately 30 seconds into the first quarter.
But before we dive headfirst into the glorious madness of the real bracket, we must, out of legal obligation and a lingering sense of duty, recap how we got here. The play-in tournament has officially wrapped up, mercifully putting an end to a week that oscillated wildly between "vintage basketball masterpiece" and "watching paint dry during a rainstorm."
Friday night was… well, it was a night.
Orlando Actually Did a Thing!
First up, the Orlando Magic decided that losing to the Celtics' backups (embarrassing) and an Embiid-less 76ers (very embarrassing) wasn't actually the vibe they wanted to end the season on. Who knew? Facing the Hornets in a do-or-die game, Paolo Banchero and coach Jamahl Mosley looked at their critics—who were basically everyone with a pulse and an internet connection—and said, "Hold my Mickey ears."
The Magic absolutely rolled Charlotte. They were unrecognizable from the lifeless husk that took the court earlier in the week. Mosley, whose seat was reportedly so hot it was actually starting to melt the arena floor, got his squad playing physical, "we’re going to annoy you into submission" basketball.
Was it pretty? No. Was it effective? Absolutely. Mosley bought himself at least a temporary reprieve from the chopping block. Orlando now earns the privilege of being annihilated by the top-seeded Pistons in the first round. Hey, a playoff series is a playoff series, even if it might only last four games.
The Jalen Green Experience: Suns Version
Meanwhile, in the West, the Phoenix Suns outlasted the Golden State Warriors in a game that was less "clash of titans" and more "last man standing wins a slightly used microwave."
This game was entirely about Jalen Green. Oh, Jalen Green. A true rollercoaster talent. His highs are so high he can probably see Mars. His lows are so low they generally involve him dribbling the ball into his own leg and falling over. But for this play-in tournament, the Suns have only ordered the "Extreme Highs" package.
Green went absolutely nuclear on Friday. We're talking thermonuclear. Eight three-pointers. 36 points. He carved up the Warriors' defense like a skilled surgeon, or perhaps more accurately, like a toddler with a crayon and zero supervision once they started closing out on him. Phoenix needed every single one of those points. His third-quarter explosion gave them the cushion they eventually needed because the Warriors, like a very persistent cold, just wouldn't go away in the final stretch.
But they did go away. Because Jalen Green, the uber-athlete who saves his best scoring touch for nights when everyone's back is against the wall, was there. Nobody knows what Green will do on a night-to-night basis. It’s that lack of consistency that makes him maddening. But on nights like this? The Suns are better for it.
The Suns (post-Kevin Durant era, remarkably) now have the towering task of trying to topple the defending champion Thunder in the first round. Good luck with that, Jalen.
Steph Curry: A Legend in Need of a Nap (And a New Roster)
And then there’s Steph Curry. Look, even legends need a break. It seemed like Curry finally ran out of gas. 17 points, just 3-for-10 from deep. He, Steve Kerr, and Draymond Green shared an emotional embrace on the bench once the white flag was waved. It’s impossible not to wonder if this is truly the end of that historic Golden State run.
The Warriors need changes. Serious ones. If they want to contend for another title and not just waste the twilight of Curry’s career, they need to act. But for one night, against the Clippers, they gave us the speedrun of the Warriors experience—all the joy, all the wonder, all the feeling of inevitability. Sure, Friday was a letdown, but that Clippers comeback was some of the best theater we saw all season.
So, Why Does the Play-In Exist?
Is it to get more teams into the hunt? To curb tanking? To satisfy Amazon’s unending hunger for new content? Yes, yes, and "probably, we’re mostly making this up as we go."
But really, it’s about this: sometimes, it gives us good basketball games. This week, we got that. We got overtime thrillers (Tuesday). We got vintage dynasty performances (Wednesday). We got… whatever Friday was. It was a magical appetizer.
Charlotte: The Future is Bright (Even if Today is Kinda Sucky)
Finally, a word on the Hornets. Yes, they came out flatter than a pancake that got run over by a steamroller at the worst possible time. But don't let that detract from the incredible season Charles Lee’s young squad had. Kon Knueppel arrived as a franchise-altering rookie (even if he struggled in the play-in). His gravity helped LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller have career-best years.
Charlotte was one of the best teams in the league after the All-Star break. If they hadn't started the year looking like they were playing in mittens, they would have avoided this whole play-in mess. The young core of Ball, Miller, Knueppel, and Bridges finally got a taste of the postseason atmosphere, even if it ended in a painful blowout.
The Hornets have left a sour taste in their mouth, but the future in Charlotte is very, very bright.
For now, though? The play-in is dead. The real playoffs are here. Tomorrow, we start for real. Game 1. Four series. This is where the sneakers squeak louder and the three-pointers feel a little more personal. Welcome back to the court.
