After another riveting round of group play, it’s time we switch gears and look towards our first round of bracket play coming up this week. Things are tight everywhere, especially for those bubble teams still on the outside looking in on the playoffs. This week and next are the last chance team’s have to avoid the Steal Open, so it just matters more now. Let’s go through 4 teams that we are keeping our eye on this week.

Pacers Gaming – It has been a rollercoaster of a season so far for Pacers Gaming. They started off dominating Slam group stage to the tune of a 2-1 record. But 2 quick losses including 1 to a community team, knocked them out early. Now here they stand after a 2-2 group stage in the Switch and we’re left with so many questions. Are they an elite team? Can they get over the hump? They are just 10 points back of a playoff spot, very similar position to where they were at last season. They got Cooks for this exact reason. Hopefully, he can get them over the hump.

T-Wolves Gaming – A season with a ton of excitement at the beginning has turned into a bit of a mystery heading into Switch bracket play. The team has had awesome good stretches, but their lack of consistency has cause tons of lineup changes and now, a trade of SubGoated to the aforementioned Pacers Gaming. So now what? Good news is, they are only 20 points behind a playoff spot, so a serious run could see them still make it. Along with that, Tutak has been every bit of the star they’ve needed him to be. Now, it’s up to the rest of the squad to buckle down and power through.

NBL Oz Gaming – A 3-1 week brings new intrigue back into NBL Oz Gaming’s season. They are at 50 points and need a pretty deep run to get into the playoffs, but they seem to be playing their best ball of the year right now. Ceez is starting to turn into form and the BagMotion/Plu combo has started to show some real results on teh defensive end. Consistent shooting still evades this team, but a couple good series can change that. This team always plays better when they are the underdogs so here you go NBL, Underdogs again.

Heat Check Gaming – Coach FamousEnough on X keeps mentioning how we’ll “talk soon” when it comes to his team, so let me officially enter the conversation. I saidon broadcast last week that they only teams I think have a real shot of winning the Finals were Lakers Gaming, Magic Gaming, and Pistons GT. I’m going to buy in early to Heat Check Gaming and officially add them to the title contenders list. I just think they have a better way of playing than other teams do and when they execute their gameplan, they are a near impossible matchup over the course of a 5-game series. So, let the conversation begin. Is this the time that Heat Check gets back to a finals for the first  time since Season 1 or will it be just another flash in the pan? Something tells me things could go quite differently this time.