The National Basketball Association postseason will begin on Tuesday night with a pair of St. Louis’ finest squaring off against each other.
Former Chaminade College Prep All-Americans Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal will do battle in one of the opening play-in games. Tatum’s Boston Celtics will host Beal’s Washington Wizards at 8 p.m. (St. Louis time). The game will be televised on TNT.
Boston finished the regular season in seventh place in the Eastern Conference while Washington made a big late-season surge to grab the eighth spot. The winner of the game will receive the No. 7 seed and a date with the No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs.
The loser of Tuesday night’s game will face the loser of the other play-in game between Indiana and Charlotte for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs.
Both St. Louisans enjoyed tremendous seasons for their respective teams, which included being starters in the NBA All-Star Game in February. Both finished the season among the top 10 scorers in the league.
Beal averaged 31.4 points a game to finish second in the league in scoring behind Golden State’s Steph Curry. Tatum averaged 26.4 points to finish in 10th place.
