The NBA playoffs will begin today, now that the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat earned the eighth seeds in their respective conferences.
Both teams got there via Friday-night wins. The Heat topped the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in a thrilling back-and-forth game. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves thumped the OKC Thunder 120-95.
Miami won on the backs of Jimmy Butler and Max Strus, who each scored 31 points on the night. Thirteen of Butler’s points came in the third quarter, and Strus hit seven threes, a play-in tournament record. Tyler Herro’s 12 points and eight rebounds also helped, along with Bam Adebayo’s 17 rebounds.
An energized Miami team looked like it did last year during its playoff run. But the task gets more difficult because the Heat will face the one-seed Milwaukee Bucks in a first-round series that starts today at 5:30 P.M. EST.
The Minnesota Timberwolves earned back-to-back play-in victories to earn their spot in the hotly-contested playoff race. Rudy Gobert returned for Friday’s game and put up 21 points, ten rebounds, and two assists. At the same time, Anthony Edwards finished with 19 points, 1tenrebounds, six assists, and two steals. Karl Anthony-Towns led all scorers with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists.
Minnesota will now face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of playoffs, which begins Saturday at 10:30 P.M. EST.
Both teams have tough first-round matchups, but we know anything can happen in playoffs, especially when teams fight to secure that final playoff spot.
