Happy Hour Sports Talk’s Mark and Jared take a deep dive into the NBA Play-In tournament structure (6:52) and discuss which teams are primed to have the deepest run into the playoffs. Questions are posed about whether the tournament promotes tanking (9:55) or a competitiveness culture in the last week of the season (11:38). Ranking of teams begins with the LA Lakers vs Golden State Warriors and a possible play-in game between them (17:59) and continues with discussion about whether a 7th or 8th seed can actually win in a playoff series (21:25). In Portland, should Terry Stotts get fired if the Blazers don’t win the first round series (25:13)? Does Washington have a chance to make some noise (28:17)? Are the Hornets too injury riddled to make a legitimate run (33:18)? Also, Mark and Jared theorize about what is wrong with the Boston Celtics (35:25), what is giving Washington their strength (38:28), who the better squad is between Memphis and San Antonio (39:20), and whether the Pacers have what it takes to make it out of the tournament (49:57). Plus, play-in Predictions (54:23)!

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