NBA Play-In: Nobody wants to play the Brooklyn Nets – Kevin Durant is the best player in the league, says Rip Hamilton
NBA legend Rip Hamilton says Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets will make a lot of noise in the playoffs this year.
That's despite the Ben Simmons injury and needing to go through the Play-In tournament - which starts tonight.
The Nets had been a pre-season title favourite for many with Durant and fellow All-Stars Kyrie Irving and James Harden forming one of the league's most fearsome trios.
But a bonkers season saw Durant miss nearly 30 games with injury, Irving unable to play at home because he was not vaccinated against Covid and Harden leave in a blockbuster trade for Simmons.
The trade deadline arrival of Simmons and Irving and Durant being fit again was meant to propel Brooklyn back up the standings - but Simmons has not played a single minute and remains a doubt for the post-season.
However, three-time All-Star and 2004 champ Hamilton still thinks Brooklyn could make a deep playoff run.
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"I had Brooklyn coming out of the East until they said Ben Simmons was out,"; the former Detroit Pistons guard told SunSport.
"They've still got a chance but it's going to be much harder. I'm not betting against them!"
The NBA Play-In tournament starts tonight with the Nets hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the winner of that game heading into a first round series with the Boston Celtics.
As the season drew to a close, the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference were continually jockeying for position and to outside eyes some games appeared to be lost on purpose - just to try and avoid an early round match-up with the Nets.
NBA play-in: How it works and schedule
THE NBA play-in tournament sees the 9th and 10th seeds from the Eastern and Western Conferences given a chance to enter into the playoffs.
The No 9 and 10 seeds will play each other, the winner progressing to a second game and the loser being completely eliminated.
The No 7 and 8 seeds will also play each other, the winner automatically making the first round and the loser given another chance in a second Play-In game.
The two winners of the first game will be drawn against the No 2 seed in the play-offs.
The winner of the 9 vs 10-seed game plays the loser of the 7 vs 8-seed game.
The winner of that final game then reaches the playoffs - facing the top seed - and the loser is eliminated completely.
APRIL 12
Game 1: Brooklyn Nets (7) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (8)
Game 2: Minnesota Timberwolves vs LA Clippers (8)
Winners earn 7th seed and progress to playoffs. Losers face second Play-In game
APRIL 13
Game 3: Atlanta Hawks (9) vs Charlotte Hornets (10)
Game 4: New Orleans Pelicans (9) vs San Antonio Spurs (10)
Winners advance to second game against loser of 7 vs 8-seed games. Losers eliminated
APRIL 15
Game 5: Loser of Game 1 vs Winner of Game 3
Game 6: Loser of Game 2 vs Winner of Game 4
Winners earn 8th seed and progress to playoffs. Losers eliminated
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Hamilton sees it the same: "As it was playing out teams did not want to be in that spot where they would have to play them.
"As a fan you ask that question but yes, teams absolutely do that. It's going to be interesting to see how that all unravels."
With Durant in red hot form since returning from injury and Irving now able to play at home after local law changed, the Nets now boast arguably the best one-two punch of offensive talent in the whole league.
Since the All-Star break, both players are averaging more than 30 points per game on incredible efficiency and Durant is playing at a level that would have put him in the MVP conversation but for injury.
Hamilton says "[Durant is the] Best player in the league right now. What he's doing at 7ft, and coming off the injury he had, you can't [stop him].
"People look at the guards as being the best offensive players in the league, but Durant is the best offensive player in the league and he has been for the last ten years that he's been playing.
"We don't talk about it as much.
"People get tired of seeing the same guy doing what he does every year it's easier to put another guy in that conversation.
"But by far the best 1 on 1 player in the game."
Unfortunately for fans of the NBA's most popular team, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers did not even manage to make the Play-In tournament.
The Lakers ended the season with just six wins from 24 games with head coach Frank Vogel sacked on Monday less than two years after leading the team to the title.
James, 37, put up huge numbers but for the first time in his career his air of invincibility has gone, while an old and poorly constructed squad is likely to see massive upheaval this summer.
"The look like they packed it in," says Hamilton, "they could easily be the eighth seed.
"But the way they were losing, it seems as if management - or somebody - is just saying 'Let's pack it in and get ready for next year, lets regroup.'
"You've got guys sitting out, they didn't look like a team that's fighting for their lives
"But they're also a team that understands if they get to the playoffs and then lose in the first round they're going to get [scrutiny].
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"They're only going to be judged if they're in the Finals or not."
Watch the 2022 NBA Play-in Tournament Presented by Visit Abu Dhabi and the 2022 NBA Playoffs live on Sky Sports and . The Play-in Tournament runs from 12-15 April and the Playoffs begin on April 16.
