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The NBA Playoffs were scheduled to begin on Saturday but with the season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans are only left wondering what could have happened.
Prior to the suspension, only four teams had clinched playoff berths as much of the league still had between 16-18 games remaining to punch their tickets into the postseason. With the season on hold, Strat-O-Matic, a game company, took the initiative to simulate the rest of the season and the first round of the playoffs.
Among the matchups, the Los Angeles Lakers drew the top seed in the Western Conference and faced the No. 8 seed New Orleans Pelicans. Zion Williamson & Co. were in 10th place prior to the shut down so the simulation saw them making up ground in the playoff race to sneak into the postseason with the final seed.
Since fantasy sports have taken over, fans have been checking out how the simulation went for their favorite team.
According to the simulation, the Lakers took Game 1 against the Pelicans after pulling out a 113-108 victory. LeBron James scored 29 points while Jrue Holiday led the Pelicans with 31 points. Williamson tallied nine points and 14 rebounds but struggled from the field, shooting just 3-of-11 from the field.
If a box-score fix can help you on what should have been Day 1 in the NBA playoffs … go to @StratOMatic for their first four simulated playoff games: https://t.co/O7Yp5hX3f8
Magic 123, Raptors 121
Sixers 107, Celtics 105
Lakers 113, Pelicans 108
Nuggets 117, Mavericks 104— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 18, 2020
The simulation will provide fans with some form of entertainment with live sports on hold. The collective basketball community was curious to see how Williamson would have fared in the playoffs had the Pelicans qualified and the simulation may offer a hypothetical result to consider.
Strat-O-Matic will run simulations each day throughout the originally scheduled NBA Playoffs.
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