Tuesday's Play-In

Kelly Dwyer

15 Apr 2025 — 7 min read

MEMPHIS

Lost to Golden State thrice, also beat them by 51.

C: Zach Edey – performs well in big games once he settles down and gets to the free throw line 15 or 20 times.
PF: Jaren Jackson Jr. – Warriors will try to pick up four fouls on this guy by halftime, the trick is for Jaren to hide behind Edey while Zach raises his hand.
G: Vince Williams Jr. – moved into this starting lineup days ago in response to Jaylen Wells' season-ending injury, all I can tell you is he appears to enjoy pulling in rebounds and startin' the break.
SG: Desmond Bane – dutiful badass all season, plays more in the passing lanes and busts tail defensively with his All-Star backcourt mate in the lineup, rolled off the scoring (down 4.5 points per game to 19.2) and cost himself an All-Star bid of his own. Obviously I'm charmed. Plays through injury. Fights teammates.
PG: Ja Morant – would be a good month to remind the world that nobody is better while zooming downhill. This guy could leave the Warriors flat on their backs early and without any chance of turning the contest over.

Santi Aldama plays like he knows better because he's 24 but also because he does, a lot. I like him a lot, but then again I don't have to live with the Grizzlies every night ... Scotty Pippen Jr. has got it and doesn't take it personally that you don't recognize that he has it. He knows you'll come back around. Terrific all-around point guard.

John Konchar had a rough go of it on the road earlier in spring but should be in the rotation for the Play-In performance ... NBA trivia: Jay Huff can only dunk backwards ... Luke Kennard knows he has to win the Luke Kennard minutes and still does the best he can (43 percent from deep this season) with it ... Cam Spencer I'm keeping an eye on because his brother is on the Warriors but I don't think his brother Pat will play, and I'm curious about that dynamic. Interested in how they'll interact regardless of minutes or outcome, they'll probably keep it way too professional, no grins or smiles, borderline mean-mugging. I get it, but I'd prefer the sort of silly-billy stuff Reggie and Cheryl Miller do when they see each other.

GOLDEN STATE

C: Draymond Green – really hates Zach Edey, takes cheap shots at him, hopefully this doesn't mar what should be a very good ballgame.
F: Moses Moody – perfect for this setting, strong two-way talent who isn't a great player overall yet, but also shouldn't be firing away against the second-stringers. Until everything settles, Moody is a nice swingman to have doing it all, briefly and amid the starters.
F/G: Jimmy Butler III – has a lot of making up to do and no, playing well down the stretch of a single regular season doesn't count. The debilitating knee contusion is a bad start.
G: Brandin Podziemski – better legs and straightened his arm out on the jumper, strong enough to finally shoot the ball rather than flinging it. Nailed 53-116 on threes (45 percent) in March and April and the figure should return after everything sets back to zero.
PG: Stephen Curry – bleepity-bleeping-bleep I hope that bum thumb isn't a thing. Curry still splashes with the bandage but he has to triple-think his way through not overcompensating for whatever's left of the pain and however the heck it affects his spin.

Buddy Hield absolutely gave in, he plays defense and doesn't think about passing within the context of his own lost shot. Rather, just, y'know, passing ... Can Gary Payton II finish everything, but this time amongst playoff traffic? Atop a 7-4 Canadian? A 7-4 Canadian Taurus?

Kevon Looney is younger than D'Angelo Russell and Dillon Brooks and he still whoops tail inside Kerr's schemes ... Quinten Post's size is a genuine deterrent. His 40 percent three-point stroke, from a rookie spotting himself behind the longest line of his life, that's something ... Jonathan Kuminga was infamously told to do a little scouting during Sunday's loss to the Clippers, he will absolutely be asked to deliver first and third quarter scoring in a playoff series but will Steve Kerr go to him in the heat of a Play-In? Or two?

Kuminga shot 29 percent from the floor in three games against the Grizzlies this season, and he played well offensively in two contests against Dallas and in a lone meeting with the Kings.

Golden State's offense isn't perfect, but you've read this rotation, there are a lot of awfully good talents here. Still, a great coach finds a way to get something out of 14 minutes of Jonathan Kuminga rather than giving up. A great coach makes the most out of what Kuminga does well, which stopping the ball and scoring with better success, if not alacrity, than most. We gotta trade this guy, Steve.

It isn't letting loose with faith in the player. Rather, exhibiting faith in yourself, and your staff. And Jonathan Kuminga. And you might have to, if Jimmy can't walk.

Contest is in San Francisco on TNT at 10:00 PM Eastern, or whenever the terrible Eastern undercard mercifully resolves itself.

ATLANTA

Played Orlando on Sunday, Hawks won, interesting game, there was definitely a vibe, some starters and some scrubs.

Atlanta lost in Orlando on April 8, the Magic had four full days off before the contest. Orlando won in Atlanta in February, Atlanta won in Orlando in February.

This game is in Orlando, 7:30 Eastern on TNT. TNT games start on time.

C: Onyeka Okongwu – fun, little, all-around center who hit a career-high against these, here, very, same, Orlando, Magic:

Hawks lost the game, but that's the Hawks. Win one, lose one.

PF: Mouhamed Gueye – ostensible defender (I mean, he's out there ...) to start the first and second halves, Quin Snyder did wonderful work encouraging Gueye through what wasn't a fun few days after Jalen Johnson's season-ending injury.
SF: Zaccharie Risacher – if the Hawks can get this guy into a playoff series, with that international-styled spacing and limited travel, we could see some real shit. Turned 20 last week. He was born the same day LeBron James had 37 points, five steals, five turnovers, seven assists and 13 rebounds against a top-ten NBA defense. Atlanta's offense grooved rather nicely down the stretch and this whippet was a large reason why. He'll probably be 6-10 by camp next fall.
G: Dyson Daniels – utterly unique as a defensive force. Special, different, player. Australian.
PG: Trae Young – I admired Trae Young's attitude and spirit throughout the year and then they gave him the Sekou Smith Award for grace and professionalism with NBA media. And Mann, why not, Trae seems like a cool enough fella, it is nice to see he is really good with the scribes. Like when you find out your favorite rock stars were nice to the roadies.

Quin Snyder started Georges Niang ahead of Gueye last week but this was against the Jazz, he likely prefers the luxury of a five-tool swingman off the pine up against a Magic team desperate for the same.

Caris LeVert was fine with the Cavaliers and even better with the Hawks, what a relief, starting and/or finishing breaks, moving away from the ball (because he doesn't know all the Hawk plays yet), 25 turnovers in 26 games ... His stroke is still weird but Vit Krejci hit 43 percent of his three-pointers last year after, I guess "making" is the right word, 40 percent last season. Another type of performer you won't find anywhere else but Atlanta, it would be nice to see a seven-game playoff series get a taste of whatever the hell it is Vit does ... Terance Mann is a more orthodox two-way minutes sopper, turned it over 22 times in 30 games as a Hawk. Hit 64 percent of his two-pointers with Atlanta and frankly it looked like it.

Dominick Barlow turned it over five times in 375 minutes, stepped into backup-backup-backup ticks when Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela went down with injury and moved everyone over a chair ... Everyone but Garrison Mathews, but that's how these things go sometimes. Sometimes you're Garrison Mathews, sometimes you're the chair.

ORLANDO

C: Wendell Carter Jr. – stalwart foot-mover still a little creaky with the ball in his hands but he'll chase your butt down on defense.
PF: Paolo Banchero – scores 26 a game with NCAA-style spacing around him, hit 51 percent of his twos and I can't help but seek a cleaner figure. Can bully Orlando to a playoff win or two if he can pop ten free throws in a game.
SF: Franz Wagner – 24-6-5 but, frankly, someone had to score. Takes a lot of those short jumpers that bang really hard off the rim after it doesn't go in. The torque must be out of this world, a 6-9 guy jumping to ten feet in the air to hurl a basketball 12 feet.
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – only 34 percent on threes in his first year with the Magic, but he was also 34 percent on threes from the corner, so, pick that poison.
PG: Cory Joseph – Yeah it's that bad.

Not too bad, Caleb Houstan won't play ... Anthony Black sometimes moves well without the ball, finds his way into a nice three-pointer, sometimes Anthony Black (all of 21) does not help the Orlando Magic at all ... Cole Anthony has so many fans in Orlando that Cory Joseph starts at point guard with Jalen Suggs out. Cole hit 47 percent of his twos this year and fouled a lot ... Jonathan Isaac is a proper defensive force on the NBA's second-best defensive team.

Tristan Da Silva didn't turn in the sort of deftly mature rookie season the Magic and others hoped, considering he turns 24 in a few days and worked up plenty of reps (74 games, 34 starts, 22 minutes per game). Still, solid enough two-way player for the 18th pick in an iffy draft.

Gary Harris plays, he's gonna get minutes, you're gonna see him on TV, and you'd play him too if you knew what knew, if you had an idea what he's seen ... Goga Bitadze, less so, but he's really good at dunks.

TUESDAY HEARTBREAK