New Orleans Pelicans: Results of the Twitter Play-In Tournament
(1) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (8) Golden State Warriors*
41. 68.4. 211. Final. 31.6
The first game features the eighth seed Golden State Warriors against top-seed Memphis.
The good people of Twitter chose Memphis by a wide margin, but this would be one of the more interesting matchups if the play-in tournament did happen.
Memphis won two of the three matchups against the Warriors this season, but the Warriors were missing Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green for most of them.
With Curry and Green already returning before the hiatus, there is a good chance the Warriors would make a longer run in this tournament in real life.
The young Memphis Grizzlies were not playing well going into the break, losing six of 10, and the Warriors would have a good chance of beating them in a seven game series if they were close to full strength.
Memphis would have home court but the Warriors have been through the playoff wars and have the chops. Not sure we can agree with the readers on this one.
(2) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (7) Minnesota Timberwolves
34. Final. 5.1. 86. 94.9
Neither the Portland Trail Blazers nor Minnesota Timberwolves were happy with how this season turned out.
Both fancied themselves playoff teams coming into the season, especially the Trail Blazers, who were looking to build on their Western Conference Finals appearance from the year before.
Both teams were playing poorly coming into the hiatus, but the Trail Blazers looked much more like a team fighting for a playoff spot.
The two teams split their season series 1-1, but the readers had no faith in the Timberwolves, who got whooped in our first round matchup.
If this were to happen in real life, the smart money would be on Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.
(3) New Orleans Pelicans vs. (6) Phoenix Suns
1.1. 66. 98.9. 69. Final
After starting the season 6-22, the New Orleans Pelicans had turned things around.
With Zion Williamson returning to the lineup, the New Orleans Pelicans were definitely the most dangerous and best team outside of the playoffs.
They were still trailing Memphis by 3.5 games, but had two games remaining with the Grizzlies and FiveThirtyEight gave the New Orleans Pelicans a 60 percent chance of passing them and claiming the final spot.
The Phoenix Suns started out hot this season but quickly returned to the norm and had no realistic chance of catching Memphis as they were six games out.
The Suns and New Orleans Pelicans split their season series, but at full-strength there is little chance the Suns would win this one.
Our readers agree, and the New Orleans Pelicans crushed the Suns to move onto the next round.
(4) Sacramento Kings vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs
29. 65.4. 84. Final. 34.6
The Kings came on late in the season and were looking like one of the teams that had a real shot at catching Memphis.
They had won seven out of their last ten, and sat tied with the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland for ninth place.
The New Orleans Pelicans were set to play the Kings in the last game before the suspension of play, but the game ended up being cancelled.
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The Spurs have a 22-year streak of making the playoffs on the line, and it would have been strange to have a Western Conference playoffs without them.
The readers on Twitter didn’t care about history and gave the win to the surging Kings, which feels right.
The two split their season series 1-1 with the Kings winning the most recent game.
*Percentages as chosen by Twitter poll