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NBA play-in: 3 ways the tournament could lead to total chaos

By Duncan Smith

Feb 22, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves the ball against Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura (8) during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves the ball against Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura (8) during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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NBA
NBA Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

NBA play-in scenario No. 1: Winner-take-all between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors

We’ve seen it before. LeBron James versus Steph Curry in a one-game playoff for all the marbles, winner takes all and loser goes home. The last time that happened, LeBron played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Curry’s Golden State Warriors were an offseason away from adding Kevin Durant in free agency.

LeBron and the Cavs won that Game 7 in the 2015-16 NBA Finals, and then the Curry/Durant Warriors proceeded to stomp the Cavs into the dirt in the next two Finals. Since then, James went to the Western Conference, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Durant went to the Eastern Conference to join the Brooklyn Nets.

Depending on how the rest of the NBA regular season plays out and where everybody ends up in the play-in, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Lakers and Warriors to meet in an all-important play-in game.

The stakes couldn’t be more different in this potential matchup, with the Warriors and Lakers battling just for the chance to get into the playoffs at all, let alone with the NBA’s top prize. But an unexpected winner-take-all match between LeBron and Steph might just be the critical game we didn’t know we’d need.