NBA Play-In Tournament schedule, scores: Mavericks, Heat cruise to blowout wins as Kings, Bulls get eliminated

FINAL: Mavericks 120, Kings 106

The Dallas Mavericks cleared the first hurdle in their two-game quest to win the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed and qualify for a first-round playoff series with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder by ending the Sacramento Kings’ season on Wednesday. 

But it only gets tougher from here. Dallas on Friday will face the Memphis Grizzlies, who lost to the Warriors in the 7-8 play-in game on Tuesday, with the winner securing the No. 8 seed and the loser heading to the lottery. 

Anthony Davis, who got off to a rough start but found his groove late in the first half after Dallas’ shooters loosened up the pressure Sacramento was squeezing down on him with, led the Mavericks with 27 points and nine rebounds. But it was Klay Thompson who really opened this game up in the second quarter, when the Mavericks turned a two-point deficit into a 23-point halftime advantage. 

Thompson, who was on a bit of a revenge mission after going 0 for 10 in a play-in loss to the Kings last season that turned out to be his final game in a Warriors uniform, sunk four 3-pointers en route to 16 second-quarter points. Thompson finished with 23 points, while P.J. Washington and Brandon Williams each added 17. 

Dallas’ defense deserves a lot of credit for this win. Sacramento just couldn’t get any kind of downhill or post leverage in the paint to force either defensive collapses (the lack of which made most of their shots highly contested one-on-one attempts) or fouls. Dallas, which was winning one-on-one matchups, made 24 free throws to Sacramento’s 11. That 13-point disparity was almost the exact difference in the final score of a game that was pretty close to even everywhere else. 

But again, the Grizzlies are going to be a much tougher task for the Mavericks than this Kings team. Memphis very easily could’ve beaten the Warriors and was in the hunt for a top-four seed into the final weeks of the season. The biggest question leading up to that game will be the health of Ja Morant, who rolled his ankle in the second half against Golden State. He came back in and played pretty well down the stretch, but was clearly hobbled. 

The Mavericks-Grizzlies one-and-done March Madness style game, which will be in Memphis, is set for Friday night at 9:30 p.m. ET. 

Halftime: Mavericks 71, Kings 48

For the Kings, nobody is getting into the paint. Without that penetration or leveraged post moves from Domantas Sabonis to collapse the defense, the Kings have had to exist on a lot of one-on-one contested shots and it’s not working out from inside the arc, where they have made just eight of their 22 attempts. The only thing that kept them attached for a while was their eight 3-pointers on 17 attempts, but even that’s not holding up anymore. 

FINAL: Heat 109, Bulls 90

The Heat were in control for the entire night on the road against the Bulls and have won the right to face the Atlanta Hawks with the chance to claim the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tyler Herro finished with 38 points, while Andrew Wiggins poured in 20 to lead the Heat in a commanding win over a Bulls team that was porous defensively, committed too many turnovers and took too long to get into any sort of offensive rhythm for it to make much of a difference.

The Heat climbed out to a 25-point lead in the first half, and while the Bulls cut it down to 13 in the third quarter, it just wasn’t enough to withstand a Heat team that kept the pressure on Chicago the whole night. Coby White struggled mightily, shooting just 25% from the floor. And while Josh Giddey tried his best to lead the charge for the Bulls, his 25 points wasn’t nearly enough especially when he was getting hunted relentlessly on defense for much of the first half.

The Bulls now head into an offseason with many questions about what this team’s future looks like. You could argue Chicago should’ve been in rebuilding mode this season, but that wasn’t what the priority was for the season. Next up, the Bulls will prepare for the draft lottery where they’ll have a chance at a top-14 pick.

Halftime: Heat 71, Bulls 47  

The Heat have had no issue putting points on the board against the Bulls and are in complete control of this play-in game. Tyler Herro is basically having an uninterrupted layup line out there. He has 23 points and hasn’t missed a shot. Chicago’s Josh Giddey was hunted relentlessly on defense as Miami is shooting an absurd 55.6% from 3-point range.

To get a feel for how ridiculously easy it has been for the Heat, just look at Duncan Robinson taking what should be a nearly impossibly shot to get off with Nikola Vučević draped all over him in the corner, but of course, he drills it.

The Bulls look completely lost out there defensively, and on offense, the dynamic duo of Giddey and Coby White just haven’t done enough to keep pace with a Heat team that seemingly can’t miss. While Herro leads all scorers with 23, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo are also in double figures, and as a team Miami is limiting Chicago to just 33% from beyond the arc. 

It was a poor first half for the Bulls and the home fans voiced their displeasure with boos as the team went to the locker room at the break. We’ll see if they have a dramatic comeback up their sleeve to make this a competitive game.

FINAL: Warriors 121, Grizzlies 116

The first game on Tuesday night might have been a dud, but the second more than delivered. After a grueling four quarters that included Memphis coming back from a 20-point deficit, Golden State ultimately won the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game in the Western Conference and will advance to the playoffs. As the No. 7 seed, the Warriors will face the No. 2 seeded Houston Rockets in the first round.

The game was one of the most exciting the Play-In Tournament has ever produced. Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry managed to combine for 75 points. With Ja Morant playing the fourth quarter on a hobbled ankle and Jaren Jackson Jr. struggling, it was Desmond Bane leading the way for the Grizzlies with 30 points of his own.

In the end, though, it was Curry’s shooting that made the difference. Two huge 3-pointers with less than two minutes to go gave the Warriors a lead they would never surrender, though they certainly came close. 

Two free throws from Bane and a steal from Scotty Pippen Jr. gave the Grizzlies life, but a missed free throw from Pippen and a five-second violation with 5.1 seconds remaining doomed the Grizzlies.

Now Memphis will return home to host either the Sacramento Kings or Dallas Mavericks on Friday, depending on who wins the No. 9 vs. No. 10 game on Wednesday. Friday’s winner will then advance to the playoffs to face the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder.

We have a game here, folks, Ja Morant or no

So much for the Warriors blowout, I suppose. Golden State led by as many as 20, but the Grizzlies have cut the deficit down to three with the Warriors ahead 94-91 after three. Amazingly, the Grizzlies haven’t let up despite losing Ja Morant to an ankle injury midway through the frame. Morant is still on the bench, so his status is not clear, but a 36-27 third quarter for the Grizzlies has given us an exciting finish to look forward to in San Francisco.

Ja Morant hurts ankle; back on the floor

The Grizzlies cannot catch a break. The Grizzlies trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half, but Ja Morant had helped them scrape their way back into things. Trailing by four, Morant made a short pull-up jumper on the baseline, but in the process, he landed on the ankle of Warriors guard Buddy Hield.

Morant stayed in the game to make his free throw, cutting the deficit to one, but the Grizzlies quickly fouled to get him off of the court from there. He limped to the bench and was evaluated by trainers from there.

UPDATE: Morant has checked back into the game with roughly nine minutes left in the fourth quarter and Golden State up two.

HALFTIME: Warriors 67, Grizzlies 55

The Grizzlies are holding on for dear life here as the revamped Warriors have played one of their best games since the trade deadline. They’ve been led by deadline acquisition Jimmy Butler, who has 21 points and has already gotten to the line eight times, and after a slow first quarter, Stephen Curry has heated up and is now up to 15 points of his own. The ball is flying around the gym, the shots are falling, this is playoff Warriors basketball.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, can’t get out of their own way. They’ve already turned the ball over 10 times, twice as many as the typically turnover-happy Warriors, and the bizarre decision to let Zach Edey guard Butler proved disastrous. Ja Morant has been great with 15 points, but the once-vaunted Memphis defense has been a mess and this game is in serious danger of slipping away from them.

Ja Morant what?!?!?

How does a 6-foot-3 guard score against two of the best defenders in the NBA at the same time? Ja Morant just answered that question: get the bigger one, Jimmy Butler, up in the air, throw the ball off the backboard, and then catch it and finish it yourself once that star defender has landed. Wow.

Warriors up six after a quarter

It looked like Golden State might be on upset alert when the Grizzlies took an early 11-2 lead. It’s been all Warriors ever since, as Golden State closed the first quarter on an 29-14 run to take a 31-25 lead after 12 minutes. Amazingly, this success largely didn’t start with Stephen Curry, who scored just four points in the first quarter and sat out the final few minutes.

No, the first quarter of this one belonged to Jimmy Butler, who scored 10, and the role players, as Quentin Post and Gary Payton II combined for 13. Remember, Jonathan Kuminga was removed from the rotation on Sunday, and it seems as though he’s out of it again tonight as well. That puts more pressure on the less heralded role players to deliver, and they’ve done so tonight.

FINAL: Magic 120, Hawks 95

The Orlando Magic are headed to the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed where they will face the No. 2 seeded defending champion Boston Celtics. They earned that right with a resounding win over the Hawks in Tuesday’s Eastern Conference play-in game, punching their second consecutive ticket to the playoffs.

It was a rough shooting night for Orlando’s best players. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner combined to shoot a meager 10-of-28 from the floor and 0-of-8 from 3-point range, but on this night, it was the supporting players that lifted them up. Coincidentally, both of them share a name. Anthony Black and Cole Anthony combined to score 42 points off of the bench on 7-of-12 shooting from deep to give the Magic the offensive boost they needed to pull away in the second half.

The Hawks, meanwhile, will host the winner of Wednesday’s bout between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks on Friday for the right to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. It was a disastrous game all around for Atlanta, but things got even worse in the fourth quarter when Trae Young was ejected for picking up two technical fouls between a runner that he made and the resumption of play. Young will likely be fined before Friday’s action, and he’ll need a big night to make up for Tuesday’s ending.

Trae Young ejected

It’s been a frustrating fourth quarter for Atlanta. After pulling to within three in the third quarter, the game fell away from them in the fourth as Anthony Black and Cole Anthony more or less relegated the Hawks to the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game on their own. One prominent member of the Hawks didn’t handle that well.

After making a nice runner, Young got called for a technical foul. He responded by kicking the ball, giving him a second tech before play even resumed, and therefore earning himself an ejection. He then held onto the ball even longer, keeping it away from the official and likely earning himself a fine. The game may already have been out of hand, but now Young has stirred up some drama ahead of Friday’s battle with either the Chicago Bulls or Miami Heat.

It’s all Magic at halftime

Well folks, it turns out that Southeast Division crown the Magic clinched in the final days of the regular season mattered after all. Orlando, with home-court advantage as the No. 7 seed, is crushing Atlanta, 61-47, at the half with a playoff spot on the line. If the Magic keep this up, they’ll earn the right to face the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Both teams are missing key pieces, and it shows, as they are shooting a combined 8-of-34 from deep in what has been a messy first half. Atlanta has been without Jalen Johnson since late January, and Jalen Suggs has been out even longer for the Magic. But Orlando is the deeper team here. Neither team has anyone jumping off of the page statistically, as the leading scorers are Trae Young and Wendell Carter Jr. with 10 apiece. But the Magic are getting more out of their whole roster than Atlanta, who still leans too much on Young for offense.

While the winner of tonight’s bout moves on to face Boston, the loser will return to action on Friday, hosting either the Miami Heat or Chicago Bulls in the final Eastern Conference play-in game. The winner of that one will take the No. 8 seed and challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.

Best bets for tonight’s play-in games