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Jamaaliver wrote:How great would it be if Hawks got to knock the Pacers out of the postseason via the Play-In Game?

Or would you guys prefer we miss the playoffs and garner that last top-10 pick?

Dan Favale wrote:Bold Predictions for the Final 2 Weeks of the NBA Season

A No. 10 Seed Makes It Out of the Play-In Tournament for the First Time



While I don't feel particularly confident in any of the 10th-place candidates, the circumstances higher up the standings allow for wild-card outcomes.

Out in the Eastern Conference, 10th-place optimism has more to do with question marks in seventh, eighth and ninth than the likely holder of the final play-in spot, the Atlanta Hawks or Chicago Bulls.

Sure, The Windy City's finest have been weirdly competent for more than half the season. The Bulls are well north of .500 since beginning the year 5-14. And if both Jalen Johnson and Trae Young are healthy, the Hawks will look exponentially more appealing...on paper. (In practice, like always, is a different story.)

More than anything, though, the East's other (most likely) play-in participants—two of Indiana, Miami and Philadelphia—are banged up.

We all know the Heat don't care about their place in the standings. But their roster is decimated by injuries to go along with an enduring lack of perimeter shot creation. Joel Embiid is his nearing return from a meniscus injury, but he hasn't played since Jan. 30. There's no guarantee that he'll be in MVP form right out of the gate.

Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton appears to be rounding into form after looking like a shell of his early-season self following a hamstring issue. That's great! But the Pacers defense remains shaky, and Bennedict Mathurin's season-ending shoulder injury stings more in the wake of the Buddy Hield trade.

• ATL struggles with two Centers as large as Vucevic and Drummond. Rebounding has been a problem in every Hawks-Bulls game this season.
• Plus CHI is loaded with Guards who can defend Trae 1-on-1. (Caruso, Dosunmo, Jevon Carter)
  
• Hawks missing Jalen and Okongwu only compounds both these issues.

• ---Andre Drummond missed his first game of the season with what Donovan called “a pretty decent ankle sprain.” Drummond is wearing a boot to protect his left foot and Donovan also said he’s using a motorized scooter for mobility because of weight-bearing issues and the amount of swelling he has. Drummond said injuries obviously stink but “are part of the game.” Asked about his potential availability for next week’s play-in game, Drummond said “that’s the goal.”
  
• ---Ayo Dosunmu missed his second straight game with a right quadriceps injury that Donovan called “a deep thigh contusion.” Dosunmu got kneed during Sunday’s Orlando game. Donovan said Dosunmu experiences discomfort when he contracts the muscle.
  
• ---The Bulls will obviously prioritize trying to have both players healthy for the play-in if possible as opposed to rushing them back for regular-season action. But there’s no guarantee for that either.