The New Orleans Pelicans play host to the San Antonio Spurs in the 9/10 NBA Play-in Tournament game on Wednesday.

Whoever wins this game will face the loser of the Minnesota Timberwolves/Los Angeles Clippers matchup. That game will be played on Friday, and the winner of that game will officially reach the playoffs as the eight-seed. They'll face the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in the opening round.

The Spurs (34-48) were one of the hottest teams to close the regular season, winning seven of their final 11 games. With that said, they finished the season on a three-game losing streak, but those defeats need to be looked at deeper. Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl sat out most of those, and it's clear that Greg Popovich wanted to have those guys fully healthy for this postseason run. That's a fantastic duo, and it's going to be up to that pair to carry this team as far as they can take them.

The Pelicans (36-46) were also one of the best teams in the closing weeks, posting a 9-6 record across their final 15 games. That doesn't even consider a four-game winning streak just before that, thriving once they acquired C.J. McCollum at the trade deadline. He's come in and averaged nearly 30 points per game for this club, pairing beautifully with Brandon Ingram. The only missing piece is Zion Williamson (foot surgery), and there's some thought he could return sometime in the postseason if they advance. If that's the case, this is a team to fear because not many clubs can match up with that threesome.

These teams played four times this season, with San Antonio winning three of four. The Spurs have won five of their last six games in this series in total, dating back to last season.