College Football

Kings stun Warriors for wild ending to NBA’s In-Season Tournament group play; Why Ohio State has a chance

Kings stun Warriors for wild ending to NBA's In-Season Tournament group play; Why Ohio State has a chance


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🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially …

THE NBA TEAMS ADVANCING IN THE IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

Whether you loved it, hated it, were ambivalent about it or still didn’t really understand it (in which case we can help) entering Tuesday, you should love the NBA In-Season Tournament now. Malik Monk banked in a heavily contested go-ahead jumper as the Kings rallied past the Warriors, 124-123, to win their group and advance to the knockout stage. Golden State, which needed to win by at least 12 points to advance on tiebreakers, had led by 24 at one point and is now out of the tournament entirely.

As such, here are the knockout stage matchups:

WEST

  • Suns (wild card) at Lakers (Group A winner)
  • Pelicans (Group B winner) at Kings (Group C winner)

EAST

  • Knicks (wild card) at Bucks (Group B winner)
  • Celtics (Group C winner) at Pacers (Group A winner)

All four teams that went 4-0 in the group stage are hosting quarterfinal games. The Celtics, meanwhile, smartly used the “Hack-A-Drummond” strategy to ensure they would advance in the closely contested group that came down to point differential between them, the Magic and the Nets.

Here are our takeaways from a wild, unprecedented night, and here’s what’s next.

😃 Honorable mentions

🤕 And not such a good morning for …

JONATHAN TAYLOR AND THE COLTS

Sunday night, the Colts were riding high off a third straight win that propelled them into the seventh and final spot in the AFC playoff…

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