Klay Thompson has played in 33 NBA Finals games. Been to the playoffs nine times. Has four championship rings in his collection. He knows how the big stage feels.
Don't tell him the play-in tournament doesn't matter.
The play-in tournament ends Friday night with a pair of elimination games, win-or-go-home matchups that will have a Game 7 feel to them. In the Eastern Conference, it's Miami going to Atlanta. And in the Western Conference, Thompson and Dallas visit Memphis. The winners go to the playoffs. The losers are finished.
“I know it’s not the NBA Finals or conference finals," Thompson, in his first season with the Mavericks, said after Dallas extended its season Wednesday with a win at Sacramento that eliminated the Kings. “But shoot, we’re still alive and a lot of teams aren’t.”
That's true. Right now, 14 teams are in the playoffs, 12 teams are done for the season and four are left to decide the last two playoff spots.
“I always say it’s like March Madness,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “Win or go home.”
For Atlanta and Memphis, these games are a second chance after both lost games where playoff berths could have been clinched on Tuesday. For Miami and Dallas, these games are a last chance to salvage a season and make a little bit of NBA history in the process.
No play-in team has ever won two road games in the same tournament, and this format — now in its fifth year, not counting a one-game play-in that was needed inside the bubble in 2020 — has never seen teams that entered as the 10th seed get into the actual playoffs.
Miami and Dallas can change that on Friday.
“We're only halfway there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
The Heat and Mavericks will be trying to stave off elimination for the second time in three days, after both got road wins Wednesday to keep hope alive; Miami ousted Chicago, Dallas ousted Sacramento. The Hawks and Grizzlies — both of whom finished eighth in the standings, which doesn't guarantee a playoff berth anymore — wasted chances to make the playoffs on Tuesday; Atlanta lost at Orlando, Memphis lost at Golden State.
“We put ourselves in a position to have two games to get into the playoffs," Hawks guard Trae Young said after his team lost to Orlando in a game that decided the No. 7 seed in the East. “Us being in the 8 seed, if this was the old school we'd already be in the playoffs. I'm glad they give us an opportunity to go home and get another chance. ... That's pretty much it. We've got another chance.”
It'll be a quick turnaround for Friday's winners. The Atlanta-Miami winner opens the playoffs at East No. 1 Cleveland on Sunday night, while the Memphis-Dallas winner opens the playoffs at West No. 1 and top overall seed Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon.
They won't be complaining.
“You're looking at the bigger goal, the bigger picture, which is the playoffs,” Heat forward Andrew Wiggins said. “We've got to do whatever we can. Whatever we've got to do, we've got to do in that game.”
Miami at Atlanta, Friday, 7 p.m. (TNT)
Season series: Tied, 2-2.
BetMGM Sportsbook: Hawks by 1.5.
At stake: The winner is the No. 8 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 1 Cleveland. The loser is eliminated.
Outlook: Heat could get into the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, which would tie a club record (it has happened on two previous occasions). Hawks went 2-0 against Miami at home this season, and all four games between the teams were decided by at least 10 points. The winner will become the first East team to go to the playoffs with a losing record (in a full 82-game season) since Boston did it with a 40-42 mark in 2014-15. Atlanta won the previous play-in tournament meeting between the clubs, topping Miami 116-105 in 2023 to earn the No. 7 seed. The Heat won the elimination game that year to claim the No. 8 seed — and start a run to that season's NBA Finals.
Dallas at Memphis, Friday, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Season series: Grizzlies, 3-1.
BetMGM Sportsbook: Grizzlies by 6.5.
At stake: The winner is the No. 8 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 1 Oklahoma City. The loser is eliminated.
Outlook: Maybe it's fitting that these two teams play the last game going into the playoffs. The Mavericks traded their franchise player in Luka Doncic in February, the Grizzlies fired their all-time winningest coach in Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the regular season. Even after Doncic got traded, Kyrie Irving got hurt and the franchise encountered — to put it mildly — some negativity, the Mavericks need to win just one game to get back to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are trying to ensure that a 48-win season doesn't go for naught in what would be a stunning collapse. Of the other 549 teams to go 48-34 (or better) in an NBA season, 545 of them made the playoffs.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
