BBNBA: Anthony Davis leads Lakers into Playoffs behind 24/15 performance

The teams that participated in the first day of the NBA’s Play-In Tournament might not look the part of postseason-worthy groups, but they sure did create some exciting basketball.

The Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers both locked up seven seeds in the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively, after winning one-game series on Tuesday night. The Hawks took down the Miami Heat 116-105 in a shocking upset loss for Miami, which came in as the higher seed. Shortly after, the Lakers overcame a double-digit deficit to fend off the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime, 108-102.

Miami and Minnesota aren’t out of the postseason for good though. Both franchises still have another shot at making the Playoffs — this time as the eight-seed — in the final Play-In games set for Friday night. The Hawks move on to face the two-seeded Boston Celtics in round one while the Lakers will take on the two-seeded Memphis Grizzlies. Refresh yourself with the updated bracket below.

Anthony Davis outduels Karl-Anthony Towns

In a battle between former No. 1 picks from Kentucky, it was Anthony Davis who got the better of Karl-Anthony Towns — both individually and in the win column. Davis posted 24 points (10-19 FG), 15 rebounds, four rebounds, three steals, and five blocks in 42 minutes for the Lakers. Although he nearly gave the win away for Los Angeles after he fouled Mike Conley on a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left in regulation and his team up three, he was critical in the Lakers’ locking up a playoff spot.

“It took everything out of us to get to where we are, and it took more out of us tonight,” Davis said after the win. “But we’ve got a couple of days before we go to Memphis to start preparing for them. It’s been a battle. It’s been an up-and-down season for us, but now is the time to show who we are, and we showed it tonight.”

Davis was huge for the Lakers, but it was LeBron James and his 30 points and 10 rebounds that powered L.A. down the stretch. Dennis Schroder also added 21 points for the Lakers, including a clutch three in the closing seconds of regulation before icing the win away in overtime from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Jarred Vanderbilt started for the Lakers and saw the court for 22 minutes, but finished with zero points though and just three rebounds. Wenyen Gabriel received fewer than two minutes of playing time.

On the other end of the court, considering Minnesota was without center Rudy Gobert and wing Jaden McDaniels, Towns needed to step up for than usual. He dropped 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks in 41 minutes, but a poor effort from Anthony Edwards ultimately killed the Wolves’ chances. Minnesota will take on the winner of New Orleans-Oklahoma City for the Western Conference’s eighth seed on Friday night.

Adebayo, Herro fighting for Playoff lives

Unlike Davis and company, the Miami Heat’s former Wildcats will have to fight one more time to sneak into the Playoffs. Miami was outplayed from start to finish by the Hawks on Tuesday, setting the Heat up with a win-or-go-home scenario on Friday night against the winner of Toronto-Chicago.

Tyler Herro certainly wasn’t the reason for Miami’s poor outing though. He dropped the most points of any one-time ‘Cat with 26 on 12-23 shooting to go along with six rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes. Kyle Lowry scored 33 points — his most in a Heat jersey across two seasons with the team — while Jimmy Butler added 21 of his own. Bam Adebayo didn’t have a great scoring night (and the internet sure is letting him know about it) with just 12 points, but he did chip in nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks in 41 minutes.

4/11/23 statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Tyler Herro (MIA)	105-116 L vs. ATL	26	12-23 (2-9)	6	0	2	0	4	-10	34
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN)	102-108 (OT) L @ LAL	24	8-12 (2-4)	11	5	0	3	2	18	41
Anthony Davis (LAL)	108-102 (OT) W vs. MIN	24	10-19 (0-1)	15	4	2	3	5	0	42
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	105-116 L vs. ATL	12	5-12	9	4	3	2	0	-5	41
Jarred Vanderbilt (LAL)	108-102 (OT) W vs. MIN	0	0-2 (0-1)	3	1	1	1	1	-12	22
Wenyen Gabriel (LAL)	108-102 (OT) W vs. MIN	0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	1

Tonight in the NBA Play-In

7:00 (ESPN): Bulls @ Raptors
9:30 (ESPN): Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander, Sarr) @ Pelicans