What began as a mere incentive to return to play basketball amid the coronavirus pandemic could _ and should _ become an NBA mainstay.
The NBA's play-in tournament between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies was a wild success, culminating in a 126-122 result that sent Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony to the playoffs while sending rookie sensation Ja Morant back home after an incredible and unlikely season. It was one of _ if not the _ most intense game of the NBA's resumption of the regular season in its Orlando bubble.
And it should replace the NBA's dated tiebreaker system that hinges on head-to-head record, as well as record in-division and in-conference.
After a more than four-month hiatus from basketball due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA explored all avenues to resume its season. Instead of fast-forwarding to the playoffs, the league opted for eight regular season games not only as a warm-up, but also as an avenue for teams to jockey for playoff position.
The NBA invited each conference's top-eight seeds, as well as any teams that were within 5.5 games of their respective conference's eighth seed. In the East, only the ninth-seeded Wizards qualified. Out West, invitations were extended to the Trail Blazers, Suns, Spurs, Kings and Pelicans.
But the league also implemented a new wrinkle: play-in games in the event the ninth seed was four or fewer games behind the eighth seed at the end of the regular season. The No. 8 seed needed one win to get in, and the No. 9 needed two. As an example, even if the Grizzlies upset the Trail Blazers in Game 1, they would have had to win a second game the next day to qualify for the playoffs.
The NBA could tinker with this wrinkle to give it legs that last a lifetime.
In a normal regular season, four games is far too great of separation to force a play-in tournament. It would be unfair to the eighth seed, having qualified for the playoffs fair and square. But the league could explore implementing a play-in tournament in the event of either a tie or a ninth-place finish that is a game behind the eighth seed.
We nearly had a play-in tournament headlined with a matchup between Lillard and Devin Booker. Imagine if those showdowns could happen every season.
Lillard scored 31 points and handed out 10 assists Saturday for the Blazers, who got 22 points and 21 rebounds from Jusuf Nurkic and 29 points and timely fourth-quarter buckets from CJ McCollum.
Morant led the way for the Grizzlies with 35 points and eight assists.
