2024 Eastern Conference Play In
- PC
- Apr 17, 2024
- 3 min read
Dude…
The Western Conference has their 7th seed in the LA Lakers. King James took over in the forth and the zebra stripes definitely contributed to LA’s success. Zion went out with an injury in a tie game with 3 mins to go. Kinda soft if you ask me, but I’m not a professional. Then, the 9th seed Kings topped the 10 seed in the Warriors. De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray showed up and Klay Thompson (who went 0-10 from the floor the entire game) did not. Now, the Kings will play the Pelicans for that final seed in the West. Tonight, we have the Eastern Conference play in!!! The Philadelphia 76ers host the Miami Heat for the 7 seed. The loser plays the winner of the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks. Lots of action, and The Dudes are here to predict their winners!
This should be a good one. The Sixers are a team that has been a title contender for the past few years. Without James Harden, the Sixers have been lacking in the scoring category. Sure, they still have former MVP in Joel Embiid, but they need more help. Tyrese Maxey is a good player, but not a #2 guy. If the Sixers want to have success, they will need to rely on Embiid to be the catalyst to getting all of the other players going. He can’t be a one trick pony to be able to defeat the Miami Heat. The Heat went on a run last year that brought them all the way to the NBA Finals. Now, Jimmy Butler (he is known as Jimmy Buckets to The Dudes) is setting himself up in the same exact position they were in last year. Bam Adebayo has been playing well, but knows when to turn it up during April. Tyler Herro will be the X Factor for Miami. He’s averaging just over 20 points per game and is continuing to gain traction as an elite guard. This should be a great matchup. A solid trio vs. an MVP. Who comes out on top? I believe the Heat are setting themselves up for another deep playoff run and I’ll never bet against Jimmy Buckets. Give me Miami to snag the 7 seed.
Honestly, these two teams are the reason I really don’t like the East. Both these teams are well below .500 and still have an opportunity to make the playoffs. The Chicago Bulls are led by Demar Derozen, who’s glory days seemed to be all used up when he was in Toronto. Demar plays well, but he’s not a #1 guy anymore. They have Zach Lavine who can still hoop, but again has wasted away in Chicago. The bench is iffy and I’m really not sure how good this team is. However, they are playing the Hawks who I think may be worse. They have Trae Young, who I think is the most overrated player in the league and isn’t a #1 option to carry a franchise. They have Dejounte Murray who can be an elite defensive minded guard, but hasn’t looked like a complete stud this year. Bojan hasn’t been the same and it seems like the Hawks have no identity. I will be watching this game just to see who the Sixers play, and I think home court advantage really helps (especially with Derozen’s daughter who gives out hellish screams that helped the Bulls last year). Give me Chicago to face the Sixers for the final seed.
I don’t think this is going to be much of a contest. The Sixers deserve to be in the playoffs and the Bulls do not. You can’t lose more games than you win and expect to make the playoffs. If this Chicago team was in the West, they wouldn’t be in the play in. Not even close. So, the Sixers have a very talented team with a big who was a former MVP. The Bulls have a bunch of washed up old veterans that just didn’t pan out. I feel bad for Derozen and Lavine, they just haven’t been the guys the city of Chicago were hoping for. They made some questionable moves, and are now stuck in no man's land. Not good enough to make a run, not bad enough to get a good pick. The Bulls need to strip it all away and restart. Sell Derozen, Lavine, and tank. The Sixers should send the Bulls to the afterlife as they shred through them to set up a matchup with the #1 team in the NBA in the Boston Celtics.
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