NBA In-Season Tournament Knockout Stage Predictions

The Knockout stage of the inaugural NBA in-season tournament is set, as the quarterfinal matches will be played on December 4 and 5 at the sites of the higher-seeded teams.

The Phoenix Suns snuck in as the wild card team in the West, and will travel to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night to get the chance to advance to Las Vegas for the tournament semifinals on December 7.

The other quarterfinal matchups are as follows: Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings, and New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks.

Breaking down predictions for the entirety of the knockout bracket:

Quarterfinals

Boston @ Indiana: Boston wins 119-116

This will be a surprisingly competitive game as the Indiana Pacers have been a historically good offense so far.

Boston has the edge in this matchup though - particularly due to Indiana's terrible defense. The Pacers cede upwards of 124 points per game, and while the Tyrese Halliburton lead Pacers will put points up, Jayson Tatum closes this one out in Boston's favor.

The Celtics will advance to the semifinals in Vegas.

New Orleans @ Sacramento: Sacramento wins 114-108

This game could be a tricky one to predict - as C.J. McCollum is expected to return for New Orleans as soon as tonight - but Sacramento gets the edge due to being at home and De'Aaron Fox being the best player on the court.

This feels like a game that Fox can truly dictate the final result, and he has played like one of the best guards in the entire NBA since returning from a sprained ankle. Also watch for his former Kentucky teammate Malik Monk to have a big game coming off of a game-winner against Golden State last night in the group stage finale.

New York @ Milwaukee: New York wins 110-106

New York pulls off the upset almost inexplicably.

The Milwaukee Bucks are undoubtedly the more talented team and have home court advantage- but the Knicks' stout defense forces Giannis Antetokounmpo to have an uncharacteristically rough night, and Jalen Brunson heroics give the Knicks the shocking victory in Milwaukee.

Phoenix @ Los Angeles: Phoenix wins 118-109

Third time is the charm.

Phoenix gets revenge for the two losses they were handed by the Lakers earlier in the season- both without superstar guard Devin Booker.

This time, the Suns will presumably have both Booker and Durant on the court together- a duo that has lost only one regular season game together.

The Lakers won both games against the Suns narrowly, and Booker playing in this game will likely give the Suns' offense extra firepower to close the deal in the fourth quarter- something they were unable to do the first two tries.

Semifinals

Boston vs. New York: Boston wins 115-104

Boston should be able to win this game fairly handily, as they typically do a great job containing the Knicks' star power - especially Julius Randle.

The Celtics will also lean into their balanced scoring effort to wear down the Knicks strong defense. Expect Boston to control this game start-to-finish.

Phoenix vs. Sacramento: Phoenix wins 123-118

This will be a tricky contest - Phoenix historically has trouble beating Sacramento, at least in recent history. Sacramento also has significantly improved defensively this season and has looked as good as last year since the return of star guard De'Aaron Fox.

Phoenix ultimately gets the upper hand due to the firepower the offense has, particularly in crunch time.

Final

Phoenix vs. Boston: Phoenix wins 117-115

There may not be anyone playing better than these two teams. This could quite conceivably be an NBA Finals preview.

The NBA likely couldn't ask for a better conclusion to the first in-season tournament: the star power, the brand power, all in a market that will soon be home to an NBA expansion franchise.

This will be a rubber match of all rubber matches, but Phoenix will prevail in the end- behind stout performances from Eric Gordon and other key role players to support Durant/Booker heroics.

Here's to hoping that Phoenix actually gets the job done, and rides the momentum into more significant tournament victories in the near future.