SAN JOSE, CALIF.— Multiple teams are fighting for a playoff spot in the NBA, and as the season is coming closer and closer to ending, who looks like they can make it?

For those who don’t know how the NBA Playoffs work, the top six NBA teams in each conference make the playoffs. But after the top six make it, the 7, 8, 9, and 10 seeds still have a chance to make it by competing in the play-in tournament. 

Those four teams compete with only two making it to the playoffs in each conference. After this happens, we would now have eight teams in each conference in the playoffs, which then gets halved after each round. If you would like to learn more, you can go to the NBA Playoffs to see the bracket of all teams to get a better picture of it.

As the season has come to an end and we have seen the playoff picture, we are not done yet, as we still have the Play-In Tournament. The way the Play-In Tournament works is that the 7th and 8th seeds play each other, and the winner advances to the playoffs to play the 2nd seed, whereas the loser plays the winner of the 9th and 10th seed game and the winner of that game advances to the playoffs to play the 1st seed. 

This year’s Play-In Tournament for the Western Conference is the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, and Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors and the Grizzlies are the 7th and 8th seeds, and the Kings and Mavericks are the 9th and 10th seeds. For the Warriors and Grizzlies game, I think the Warriors will take it and go on to play the Houston Rockets in the Playoffs because  I think Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler will be too much for the Grizzlies. So does Freshman Jaden Hernandez, as he said, “I think the Warriors are going to make it deep in the playoffs, but I am a little biased as a Warriors fan.” 

For the Kings and Mavericks game, I have the Kings winning because they have more veterans with more experience, whereas the Mavericks are a young team. That would leave the Grizzlies and Kings facing off to make the playoffs, where I have the Grizzlies taking it because I think Ja Morant will lead the team to the win, and go play the Thunder in the playoffs.

For the Eastern Conference, it’s the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and the Miami Heat. The Magic and the Hawks are the 7th and 8th seeds, and although I think it will be close, I have the Magic taking it and going to play the Boston Celtics. I think Paolo Bancharo will take the lead for the Magic to win. 

The Heat and the Bulls are the 9th and 10th seeds, and I have the Heat taking it with Tyler Herro having a great season, leading them to go play the Hawks, where I think the Hawks will win with Trae Young putting up points and assists, which will take them to go play the Cavaliers. This would finish the Play-In-Tournament, and would only leave us with the playoffs to go.