Play-in Previews, Plus Surprises and Disappointments from This Season

Verno and Jacoby return to react to the final weekend of the NBA regular season, take a look at the 2026 Play-in Tournament, and break down the playoff matchups. Then, they give their biggest surprises and disappointments from the regular season. Welcome to The Mismatch! 01:45 Previewing the Play-in Tournament 02:28 Heat-Hornets: Heat are a tough out, Hornets are young 8:40 Blazers-Suns: Next round vs. Spurs favors the Trail Blazers 14:47 Magic-76ers: Will this be a revenge game for Philly? 18:35 Warriors-Clippers: Warriors stumbling into matchup 25:12 Knicks-Hawks: Initial thoughts for the matchup 29:06 Rockets-Lakers: Luka has to be available to beat the Rockets 34:18 Wolves-Nuggets: The underdog has been a problem for Denver in the past 39:35 Verno’s Surprises: The Spurs' huge leap from the lottery 43:10 Jacoby’s Surprises: How much better the Celtics were going into the season 46:54 Verno’s Disappointments: How reckless tanking has become in the NBA 48:39 Jacoby’s Disappointments: The NBA turning into a law firm 51:56 Verno’s Surprises: The statistical greatness of Nikola Jokić 57:55 Jacoby’s Surprises: 2025 draft class was really impactful 59:32 Verno’s Disappointments: Doc Rivers and the disaster of the Bucks 1:01:37 Jacoby’s Disappointments: NBC selling us Michael Jordan and not delivering 1:03:45 Verno’s Surprises: The Clippers recovering from their bad start 1:06:07 Jacoby’s Surprises: Clippers sending CP3 into retirement 1:13:34 Jacoby’s Disappointments: Chauncey Billups in a federal indictment The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit to learn more about the resources and helplines available. (only needed when baked-in FanDuel ad read is in episode) Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! (323) 389-5091 Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Stefan Anderson and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Play-in Previews, Plus Surprises and Disappointments from This Season is an episode from The Mismatch by The Ringer.

This episode is 79:21 long.

This episode was published on Apr 14, 2026.

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