The Cavaliers with a Golden Opportunity to Advance in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament is Incredible

The Cleveland Cavaliers still have a chance to advance in the NBA’s In-Season Tournament

The NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament begins in a few weeks. The Cleveland Cavaliers have had some highs and lows in their first two games of this new addition to the calendar.

The essential thing to remember is that Cleveland hasn’t been eliminated yet, and they still have a chance to advance to the next round.

With a 1-1 record, the Cavs are now third in East: Group A. They’ve beaten the Detroit Pistons, who’ve already been eliminated, and fell to the group-leading Indiana Pacers.

Their victory over the Pistons on Friday night was critical in keeping the squad in contention for the next round. But it doesn’t get any easier from here.

The Cavaliers’ next opponent is the 76ers, who they will face on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. The 76ers are the second seed in the Eastern Conference and have been playing well since the trade of James Harden.

Cleveland will strive to go 2-1 in group play, but they will do so without Donovan Mitchell, who is still nursing a hamstring ailment.

In order to advance, the Cavs will also have to face the fearsome Atlanta Hawks. Their 6-6 record does not reflect what this club is truly capable of, as they still have a strong squad led by Trae Young.

While Cleveland is still alive, it appears that they will need to go 2-0 in their final two games, along with a Pacers defeat, to have a chance to advance. This begins with defeating the 76ers on their home court.

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Sixers Preview: The In-Season Tournament becomes more Competitive, and Matchups with All-Star guards Weigh large.

The Sixers are competing for a berth in the In-Season Tournament Knockout Round before facing some elite guards this week.

The Philadelphia 76ers (10-3) will host the Cleveland Cavaliers in an In-Season Tournament game on Tuesday night before embarking on a two-game road trip against two of the Western Conference’s best teams: the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

Let’s take a look forward to the upcoming week:

In-Season Tournament Update

Note: A detailed breakdown of the In-Season Tournament and how it works can be found here.

The Sixers enter a suddenly-pivotal game of Group Play within Eastern Conference Group A against the Cavaliers Tuesday night, as they look to finish this stage of the tournament with a 3-1 record. The Sixers are behind the eight ball in Group Play, however, because their one loss came against the Indiana Pacers, who are 2-0 in Group Play, giving Indiana the tiebreaker over the Sixers. So in order to win Group A and earn a spot in the Knockout Rounds, the Sixers need to win against Cleveland and have the Pacers lose twice this week — on Tuesday night on the road against the Atlanta Hawks, and on Friday night at home against a Detroit Pistons team that is 0-3 in Group Play and just 2-13 overall.

In other words, the Pacers’ magic number to win Group A is one, and one of their final two games is against perhaps the poorest club in the league.

To advance to the Knockout Rounds, the Sixers would need to own the Eastern Conference’s lone wild card, which is awarded to the conference’s best non-group winner. Even if the Sixers defeat Cleveland, there will almost certainly be another 3-1 team. As a result, the next tiebreaker, point differential, will determine who advances.

Based on the nature of the tournament, the Sixers could need a convincing, blowout victory over Cleveland – winning the group appears doubtful at this stage, but securing a wild card spot is possible with a great performance on Tuesday.

Theme of the week: Electric guards

The Sixers, particularly Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Patrick Beverley, and Jared Springer, will have their hands full this week. The Sixers are up against a killer’s row of ball-handlers. The Cavaliers’ Darius Garland was first, followed by Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Containing those players, the latter two of whom have all produced at the All-NBA level, if not MVP-caliber play, will be a tremendous challenge.

Beverley, who played a year with Edwards in Minnesota in 2021-22, talked highly of his former colleague at Monday’s practice, according to Sam DiGiovanni of ClutchPoints.

“I told everybody at the beginning, ‘That boy has the chance to be Michael Jordan,’ and people looked at me like I was crazy,” she added. “Now all of the ESPN analysts and GMs are saying the same thing.”

Last but not least is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of the few NBA guards who has regularly scored against Joel Embiid near the rim during his career. Because of his unrivaled craftiness and great skill, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 31.1 points per game over the last two seasons. He is one of the most inventive scorers in modern NBA history, employing an enthralling blend of speed changes, unconventional finishes, and outstanding foul-drawing abilities. Gilgeous-Alexander has swiftly established himself as one of the league’s premier offensive players.

With these three superstars and their unique supporting casts, the Sixers will have a difficult week. But it will be fascinating.