Play-in pressure on Kerr

Three dates are reserved for six games involving eight teams in the NBA’s play-in tournament with only four, two from the East and two from the West, surviving to advance to the playoffs starting Saturday (Sunday morning, Manila time). Play-in fireworks begin this morning (Manila time) as four Western Conference squads square off, featuring No. 7 New Orleans against No. 8 LA Lakers and No. 9 Sacramento against No. 10 Golden State. Tomorrow, it’s the Eastern Conference’s turn to battle as No. 7 Philadelphia takes on No. 8 Miami and No. 9 Chicago faces No. 10 Atlanta.

The top six finishers in the East and West are safely in the playoffs. The last two tickets in both conferences will be awarded to the play-in survivors. The play-in format was introduced in the 2019-20 season but it involved only the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the East and West if they were within four games of each other. The next season, the NBA tweaked the format to include teams from No. 7 to No. 10, institutionalizing it as a permanent fixture in the schedule.

In the play-in matchups, the losers in the No. 9 against No. 10 duel are eliminated outright, meaning a do-or-die for the Kings, Warriors, Bulls and Hawks. The winners of No. 7 against No. 8 automatically advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed while the losers will meet the No. 9 and No. 10 survivors for the No. 8 slot.

There’s pressure on Golden State coach Steve Kerr to win twice in the play-in to clinch No. 8 in the playoffs. The reward is tangling with No. 1 Oklahoma City in the first round. The Warriors and Kings split their four-game regular season series and they wound up with identical 46-36 records. But Sacramento took the higher seed because of a superior Pacific Division record, 10-6 against Golden State’s 7-9. The Kings have lost three of their last four while the Warriors have won four of their last five. Consensus Sixth Man awardee Malik Monk remains out of commission because of a right knee MCL sprain and won’t be available until sometime next month if the Kings are still in the hunt. Kevin Huerter is out for the season with a shoulder injury and will be missed. Together, they average 25.6 points. Kings center Domas