Last chance time: Hawks-Heat, Grizzlies-Mavericks to decide final NBA playoff spots on Friday

Klay Thompson has played in 33 NBA Finals games. Been to the playoffs nine times. Has four championship rings in his collection. He knows how the big stage feels.

Don't tell him the play-in tournament doesn't matter.

The play-in tournament ends Friday night with a pair of elimination games, win-or-go-home matchups that will have a Game 7 feel to them. In the Eastern Conference, it's Miami going to Atlanta. And in the Western Conference, Thompson and Dallas visit Memphis. The winners go to the playoffs. The losers are finished.

“I know it’s not the NBA Finals or conference finals," Thompson, in his first season with the Mavericks, said after Dallas extended its season Wednesday with a win at Sacramento that eliminated the Kings. “But shoot, we’re still alive and a lot of teams aren’t.”

That's true. Right now, 14 teams are in the playoffs, 12 teams are done for the season and four are left to decide the last two playoff spots.

“I always say it’s like March Madness,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “Win or go home.”

For Atlanta and Memphis, these games are a second chance after both lost games where playoff berths could have been clinched on Tuesday. For Miami and Dallas, these games are a last chance to salvage a season and make a little bit of NBA history in the process.

No play-in team has ever won two road games in the same tournament, and this format — now in its fifth year, not counting a one-game play-in that was needed inside the bubble in 2020 — has never seen teams that entered as the 10th seed get into the actual playoffs.

Miami and Dallas can change that on Friday.

“We're only halfway there,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The Heat and Mavericks will be trying to stave off elimination for the second time in three days, after both got road wins Wednesday to keep hope alive; Miami ousted Chicago, Dallas ousted Sacramento. The Hawks and Grizzlies — both of whom finished eighth in the standings, which doesn't guarantee a playoff berth anymore — wasted chances to make the playoffs on Tuesday; Atlanta lost at Orlando, Memphis lost at Golden State.

“We put ourselves in a position to have two games to get into the playoffs," Hawks guard Trae Young said after his team lost to Orlando in a game that decided the No. 7 seed in the East. “Us being in the 8 seed, if this was the old school we'd already be in the playoffs. I'm glad they give us an opportunity to go home and get another chance. ... That's pretty much it. We've got another chance.”

It'll be a quick turnaround for Friday's winners. The Atlanta-Miami winner opens the playoffs at East No. 1 Cleveland on Sunday night, while the Memphis-Dallas winner opens the playoffs at West No. 1 and top overall seed Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon.

They won't be complaining.

“You're looking at the bigger goal, the bigger picture, which is the playoffs,” Heat forward Andrew Wiggins said. “We've got to do whatever we can. Whatever we've got to do, we've got to do in that game.”

Season series: Tied, 2-2.

BetMGM Sportsbook: Hawks by 1.5.

At stake: The winner is the No. 8 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 1 Cleveland. The loser is eliminated.

Outlook: Heat could get into the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, which would tie a club record (it has happened on two previous occasions). Hawks went 2-0 against Miami at home this season, and all four games between the teams were decided by at least 10 points. The winner will become the first East team to go to the playoffs with a losing record (in a full 82-game season) since Boston did it with a 40-42 mark in 2014-15. Atlanta won the previous play-in tournament meeting between the clubs, topping Miami 116-105 in 2023 to earn the No. 7 seed. The Heat won the elimination game that year to claim the No. 8 seed — and start a run to that season's NBA Finals.

Season series: Grizzlies, 3-1.

BetMGM Sportsbook: Grizzlies by 6.5.

At stake: The winner is the No. 8 seed and opens the playoffs Sunday at No. 1 Oklahoma City. The loser is eliminated.

Outlook: Maybe it's fitting that these two teams play the last game going into the playoffs. The Mavericks traded their franchise player in Luka Doncic in February, the Grizzlies fired their all-time winningest coach in Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the regular season. Even after Doncic got traded, Kyrie Irving got hurt and the franchise encountered — to put it mildly — some negativity, the Mavericks need to win just one game to get back to the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are trying to ensure that a 48-win season doesn't go for naught in what would be a stunning collapse. Of the other 549 teams to go 48-34 (or better) in an NBA season, 545 of them made the playoffs.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, right, reacts from the bench during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Friday, April 11, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro celebrates with fans after the Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls in an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in Chicago, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson gestures to the crowd during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Sacramento Kings, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — While President Donald Trump says he will take action on Greenland whether its people “ like it or not, " his newly handpicked U.S. special envoy is setting off on his own approach.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, appointed in December, has said he is not interested in meeting diplomats. The Republican has not visited the Arctic island but plans to attend a dogsled race there in March. He has suggested Greenlanders would feel right at home in Louisiana, saying he heard they like to hunt, fish and “have a good time.”

As Trump threatens seizing control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, Landry has brought his thick Cajun accent and reputation for confrontational politics to the American effort to acquire the world’s largest island, elevating his national profile on a mission that has showcased his ties to the president and rattled partners in the military alliance.

Landry's debut has not escaped Denmark's attention. The Danish ambassador to the United States pushed back on Sunday when Landry posted on X that the U.S. had protected Greenland during World War II “when Denmark couldn’t.”

Landry's "brand fits the political moment and fits neatly with this president’s goal,” said Mary-Patricia Wray, a Louisiana political consultant who has worked with Landry.

The assignment is a test for the first-term governor who climbed to power in Louisiana as a brash conservative but has no significant foreign diplomacy experience beyond economic development trips. Supporters say Landry’s charisma and negotiating chops are a boost to Trump’s aims. But the scope of Landry's role as special envoy and extent of his early outreach are unclear as Trump revives his argument that to ensure its own security, the United States needs to control Greenland.

Landry declined an interview request and his office did not respond to questions about his actions so far as envoy. The White House said Landry’s experience as a governor makes him a strong asset.

“He understands that Greenland is essential to our national security, vital to deterring our adversaries, and that Greenlanders would be better served by U.S. protection in the region,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

Others are less impressed.

“You don’t negotiate the future of a country on social media,” said Peter Bisgaard, a former Danish consular officer in New Orleans. “That’s asinine.”

Greenland’s party leaders have firmly rejected U.S. overtures and Danish officials warn that an American takeover of Greenland would end the NATO alliance that has served as the backbone of European security since World War II.

The White House has not ruled out military action in pursuit of Greenland.

Landry, in an interview on the “Brian Kilmeade Show” on Fox News Radio this month, said he wants to provide Greenland's roughly 56,000 residents opportunities to “improve the quality of life" in exchange for expanded U.S. military presence and rare-earth mineral mining access. Drawing on Louisiana's famed cuisine, Landry described his approach to forging ties as “culinary diplomacy."

During eight years as Louisiana’s attorney general, Landry was known for airing out disagreements on social media and for a combative style, defending the state's abortion ban and rollbacks of LGBTQ rights. Since voters elected him governor in 2023, Landry has pushed Louisiana further right and animated critics who accuse him of limiting transparency and ramming through legislation with little public feedback.

Landry’s mentor Fred Mills, a retired Louisiana lawmaker, said they briefly discussed the governor's envoy role.

“If you bring them some crawfish and you start talking Cajun to them, I don’t think they’ll give you the country, but they’re going to like you,” Mills recalled telling Landry. “I can see it elevating his worth on the national level, but I’m struggling to know what’s going to be success.”

Shortly after Trump announced his first presidential campaign in 2015, Landry interviewed him while guest-hosting a local radio show. Their ties have only grown closer.

Trump endorsed Landry's run for governor and Landry has said he was on the president's short list for attorney general. Landry said he did not want the job but has demonstrated an eagerness to implement Trump's agenda on a Louisiana-sized scale.

He invited the National Guard to Louisiana to address crime, welcomed a Border Patrol deployment and expanded immigration detention facilities. Last year, Landry stood alongside Trump at the White House as South Korean carmaker Hyundai’s announced plans to open its first U.S. steel mill in Louisiana.

Retired Louisiana lawmaker Craig Romero said Landry, who once worked for him as an aide, has long understood the value of cultivating ties to those with power, even while serving in the Louisiana National Guard.

“He said ‘Everybody wants to be my friend in the Guard because I drive the general around’,” Romero recalled.

In response to public information requests for records surrounding Landry's early work as envoy, his office said that “any work done by the Governor regarding this project is voluntary and not state business.”

In the interview with Fox News, Landry said he planned to attend a dogsledding event on the island in March after receiving an invite from “a Greenlander.” He did not say which event, but the possibility of Landry making an appearance rattled organizers of Greenland's national dogsledding championship.

Mikkel Jeremiassen, chairman of the Greenland Dogsledding Association, said in a statement this week that Landry's attendance would be “wholly inappropriate.”

Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to reflect that Landry was elected governor in 2023, not 2024.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, third from left, Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, not shown, and their delegations leave the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the grounds of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry records a social media video outside the White House, Monday, March 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

People walk in downtown of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)