SB Nation Reacts: Play-in tourney feels, plus we need a new Suns question

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Phoenix Suns fans, and fans across the country.

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Suns question(s)

According to the most recent SB Nation Reacts survey, a full 100 percent of responding Suns fans are confident the team is headed in the right direction. That level of confidence has held solid nearly all season.

Yeah yeah, we all agree that the Suns are going in the right direction. Duh. This is the standard team-oriented question across the league, but at a consistent 100% its not really relevant to Suns fans anymore.

So let’s make it more fun!

Help me come up with a NEW question for our SB Nation Suns fans who take the survey each week. Oh you’re not one of them? Well, Sign up here

Here’s a few ideas that won’t get 100% ‘yes’ votes:

• Will the Suns hold on to the 2nd seed?
• Can the Suns win the Western Conference Finals?
• Will the Suns get an All-NBA player?

Any ideas? Help me by leaving comments in the chat.

National questions

As teams prepare for the final push of the season, more teams than ever have an opportunity to see some form of postseason play. Because of a rule change for just the 2020 season, two more teams from each conference will have a chance to chase a title.

This season, seeds seven through 10 will participate in a play-in tournament with two advancing to the regular postseason. The seven and eight seeds will need to win only one game to advance, while the bottom two seeds would need to win both games.

Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, who currently sit in 7th in the West, hates the idea of a play-in tournament because all a 7-seed has to do is lose two straight games to go home without a real playoff series. Marc Cuban says the play-in format is a big mistake for the same reason. Well, if you’re so worried about it how about just winning more games? Like the Suns are doing.

Right now, assuming the Mavericks indeed win their play-in game and finish 7th, it looks like a Suns-Mavs first round series. The Suns are 7-1 against the Mavs since the 2018 Draft.

While Luka hates the play-in idea, the average fan feels different.

According to a majority of fans around the country, the play-in tournament is having the desired effect. Nearly two-thirds of fans believe the new format is keeping more teams engaged and preventing at least some teams from tanking for a draft pick. Indeed, only three teams in the West have stopped trying to win games compared to the usual half-dozen.

More than that, a nearly identical percentage of fans find the concept of a play-in game exciting.

For now, the playoff format is in place just for this season. However, if the league finds success with the play-in, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it tried again.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here.