NBA Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament preview

With the playoffs and the SoFi Play-In Tournament just hours away from tip-off, the Philadelphia 76ers (7), Miami Heat (8), Chicago Bulls (9) and Atlanta Hawks (10) come in either one or two wins away from a playoff berth.

The breakdown for the tournament is as follows:

Day 1 (Wednesday) - The No. 7 seed 76ers and No. 8 Miami will play in a win-and-in game in Philadelphia at 7 p.m., followed by Chicago hosting the Hawks at 9:30 p.m. The loser of Chicago and Atlanta will be eliminated following this game.

Day 2 (Friday) - The winner of 76ers-Heat will be in and face the New York Knicks (2) in round one, while the loser will host the winner of Bulls-Hawks in yet another win-and-in game for the chance to face the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics. The loser of the Friday game will be eliminated from playoff contention.

The 76ers and Heat hold an advantage as both games will be win-and-in, meaning they have the easiest path into the playoffs. They split the series 2-2 with each team winning a game on the road and in their own arena.

On the flip side, the Bulls and Hawks can make the play-in as under-.500 squads, which does raise questions as to whether they deserve the playoff spot in the first place. The Bulls won the season series 2-1, taking a game at home and on the road while falling in Chicago to the Hawks on April 1.

The 76ers take a 47-35 record into their matchup against the Heat (46-36), and star Joel Embiid will be active per head coach Nick Nurse. With Embiid in the lineup, Philadelphia is 31-8 and only 16-37 without the reigning MVP. While Embiid won’t be up for any awards this season, his 34.7 points per game and 11 rebounds per game will play a big factor in a potential playoff run for a team that hasn’t advanced past round two since 2001.

As for the South Beach side, a 46-36 record led by a balanced attack of Jimmy Butler (21 PPG), Tyler Herro (21 PPG) and Bam Adebayo (19 PPG and 10 RPG) scraped together a playoff run and have the opportunity to make another run after an NBA Finals appearance just a year ago.

No. 9 Chicago finished the season 39-43, paced by Demar DeRozan’s 24 PPG, a double-double average from Nikola Vucevic and another consistent 20 PPG season from Zach Lavine. Having held the No. 9 seed after all but one game since Jan. 8, the play-in is fate for the Windy City.

Atlanta’s squad boasts a top-5 scoring offense at 118.3 PPG with eight players at 10+ PPG. A Trae Young return should ignite this lineup yet again, allowing potential “6th Man of the Year” candidate Bogdan Bogdanovic to slide back into his role and let Dejounte Murray return to his shooting guard position as well.

The explosive attack should cause some issues in the tournament and the playoffs if the Hawks can manage to sneak in.

My prediction: Philadelphia takes the No. 7 seed to face the Knicks while the Hawks go on a surprise run to take out the Bulls and Heat on the road and sneak back into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed.

Jeremy Rose is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jmr8177@psu.edu.