Play‑In tournament starts
The NBA’s Play‑In Tournament kicks off two days after the regular season ended, with teams seeded 7 through 10 in each conference competing for the last two playoff spots. The format means short, high‑leverage games where the 7/8 winner locks a seed and the 9/10 pair must win twice to advance, per the league schedule release. With brackets now fixed, teams and bettors can treat the Play‑In as immediate elimination basketball rather than hypothetical scenarios. (usatoday.com)
The National Basketball Association’s Play-In Tournament opens Tuesday, April 14, with four single-game matchups that will decide the last playoff spots by Friday. (nba.com) The official bracket is set in both conferences. In the East, the Philadelphia 76ers host the Orlando Magic in the 7-versus-8 game and the Charlotte Hornets host the Miami Heat in the 9-versus-10 game. (nba.com) In the West, the Phoenix Suns host the Portland Trail Blazers in the 7-versus-8 game and the Los Angeles Clippers host the Golden State Warriors in the 9-versus-10 game. Phoenix finished 45-37, Portland 42-40, the Clippers 42-40 and Golden State 37-45. (nba.com) The format gives the No. 7 and No. 8 teams two chances to qualify. The winner of each 7-versus-8 game becomes the No. 7 seed, while the loser gets one more home game against the winner of the 9-versus-10 game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The No. 9 and No. 10 teams do not get that margin. The loser of each 9-versus-10 game is eliminated that night, and the winner has to win again on Friday, April 17, to reach the first round. (nba.com) This setup locks in the rest of the bracket before the weekend. The National Basketball Association says the first round starts Saturday, April 18, two days after the last play-in games. (nba.com) The teams already waiting in the East are the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks. In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves already avoided the play-in. (nba.com) The league first used a play-in format in the 2020 restart in Orlando, then expanded it for the 2020-21 season. The current version keeps seeds 7 through 10 alive after the regular season but rewards the teams that finished seventh and eighth with an extra path. (nba.com) The schedule starts with Hornets-Heat and Suns-Trail Blazers on Tuesday, then 76ers-Magic and Clippers-Warriors on Wednesday. By Friday night, the 2026 playoff field will be complete and the bracket will stop moving. (sportingnews.com)
