The NBA is in its second season of using the play-in tournament and it has started the playoffs off hot this year. 

The first play-in game was between the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers, which was expected to be a blowout by the Nets but the Cavs kept it close.

Kyrie Irving was playing out of his mind for the Nets, not missing a shot in the first half. He and Kevin Durant carried the Nets to a 115-108 win.

The Nets took care of business, but that is not because the Cavs didn’t put up a fight. They fought until the very end, looking to dominate the pace of the game at points. 

Darius Garland of the Cavs showed that he is the future of that team alongside Evan Mobley. The Cavs will still have a chance to advance to the 8 seed if they beat the Atlanta Hawks.

Seth Curry of the Nets struggled as he wasn’t able to hit three-pointers that the team needed him to. The Nets are hopeful that star Ben Simmons, who they recently traded for, will return during the first round. Simmons posted a picture on social media of himself practicing and getting ready for the playoffs. 

The second game was between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Clippers, which was expected to be the most competitive game of the play-in. It did not disappoint.

The game was intense the whole way through. The largest lead of the game came from the Clippers when they went up 10 with about nine minutes left in the game. But guards Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russel of the Minnesota Timberwolves took over the game, as the Timberwolves in the last nine minutes outscored the Clippers 26 to 11.

The star of the Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns, had a historically awful game, only scoring 11 points and fouling out midway into the fourth quarter. This game just shows how it takes a whole team effort.

Veteran player Patrick Beverly used to play for the Clippers but was traded to the Timberwolves this offseason. He saw this game as revenge against the team that disrespected him and he did not disappoint, causing havoc the whole game and putting the Clippers into disarray.

Clippers forward Paul George did what he needed to do, scoring 34 points along with seven  rebounds and five assists. The team around him, outside of Reggie Jackson, struggled, which allowed the Timberwolves to take advantage. 

It seemed the whole game that the Clippers couldn’t contain second-year player Anthony Edwards, and even when they did, the Clippers put all their attention towards him to allow D’Angelo Russel to get open.

The next game was the Atlanta Hawks taking on the Charlotte Hornets, both very young teams with bright futures.

In the first half of this game, the stars on both teams struggled. Trae Young of the Hawks and Lamelo Ball of the Hornets couldn’t find open shots so they had to rely on their teammates.

The Hawks’ roster definitely showed their true depth and potential with how many players were able to score, while the Hornets showed just how much Lamelo means to that team. 

Clint Capela was definitely the main reason that the Hawks won the game. He had 15 points along with 17 rebounds, seeming to dominate the boards. With every miss, it was a good assumption Capela would come down with it.

It seems that fans finally saw that Miles Bridges truly doesn’t deserve the max contract he is chasing. He had 12 points and got ejected late in the game after arguing a call. While leaving the court, he threw his mouthpiece at a fan.

The Hawks definitely felt like the better team and now have a great chance to make the playoffs through playing the Cavs. The Hornets are still very young and this absolutely will not be the last time fans hear of this squad. 

The final game of these opening contests was the San Antonio Spurs against the New Orleans Pelicans, which was a pretty boring game.

The Pelicans are definitely the better team and it showed. 

This game showed that the trade for CJ McCollum may not have been the worst idea, as he had 27 points in the first half and ended with 32. That is no reason to overlook the games by Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas, who both had over 20 points. They proved that this team is no pushover. 

Spurs guard Dejounte Murray struggled but that is no reason to criticize the season he just finished. This was a career year for him and he definitely proved himself as a future star of the league. 

The Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers will play Friday along with the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans. These games will definitely be intense as it is win or go home for all teams involved.

The play-in is seen by some as a weak point of the year, but is definitely proving that it is a great new addition to the league. Fans should definitely not want to miss out on these games.