Play‑In kicks off Tuesday
The NBA Play‑In Tournament begins Tuesday with the No. 7–10 seeds in each conference fighting for the final playoff spots, and the league has Heat vs. Hornets scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and Blazers vs. Suns for 10:00 p.m. ET. (NBA tweet ) The regular season wrapped Sunday and the Play‑In will decide which teams fill the final slots before the first round starts after play‑in week. (USA Today )
The National Basketball Association Play-In Tournament opens Tuesday, April 14, with four teams trying to stay alive for the last two playoff spots in each conference. (nba.com) Tuesday’s games are Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and Portland Trail Blazers at Phoenix Suns at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, according to the league schedule. Wednesday, April 15, brings the No. 7 versus No. 8 games in each conference. (nba.com) The Eastern Conference field is set as No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers, No. 8 Orlando Magic, No. 9 Charlotte Hornets and No. 10 Miami Heat. In the West, it is No. 7 Phoenix Suns, No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers, No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers and No. 10 Golden State Warriors. (nba.com) The format is short and unforgiving. The winner of each No. 7 versus No. 8 game claims the seventh seed, while the loser gets one more game against the winner of the No. 9 versus No. 10 matchup for the eighth seed. (nba.com) That setup leaves the No. 9 and No. 10 teams with no margin for error. They have to win Tuesday or Wednesday just to reach Friday, then win again to make the playoff bracket. (usatoday.com) The regular season ended Sunday, April 12, and only 10 of the 20 postseason seeds were locked before the Play-In field was finalized. The first round starts Saturday, April 18, so the league is using this week to fill the East and West brackets. (nba.com ) (nba.com) The top of the bracket is already waiting. Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics are the top two seeds in the East, while Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs hold those spots in the West. (nba.com) The Play-In has been part of the postseason structure since the league expanded the concept after the 2019-20 season. It keeps more teams in contention late in the year and makes the difference between finishing sixth and seventh much more expensive. (nbcsports.com) By Friday night, the bracket will be complete and the best-of-seven playoffs can start Saturday with all 16 seeds in place. (nba.com)
