How the Play‑In works
The NBA’s Play‑In Tournament will decide the final four playoff berths from the No. 7–10 teams in each conference, with the 7/8 winner clinching the 7th seed and the 9/10 survivor still having to win twice to advance — the postseason starts April 18. ( ) The field includes notable clubs such as Miami, Philadelphia and Golden State, meaning traditional title contenders could still be forced into sudden‑death matchups. ( )
The National Basketball Association’s Play-In Tournament starts Tuesday, April 14, with eight teams chasing the last four playoff spots before the first round opens April 18. (nba.com) In each conference, the teams that finished seventh through 10th in the regular-season standings enter the field. The seventh-place team plays the eighth-place team for the No. 7 seed, while the ninth-place team plays the 10th-place team in an elimination game. (nba.com) The winner of the 7-versus-8 game goes straight into the bracket as the seventh seed. The loser gets one more chance and hosts the winner of the 9-versus-10 game for the No. 8 seed. (apnews.com) That format gives the seventh and eighth seeds a safety net and leaves the ninth and 10th seeds needing two wins to advance. Every play-in game is a single game, not a best-of-seven series. (cbssports.com) The 2026 bracket shows how tight that margin is. In the East, the Philadelphia 76ers are seventh, the Orlando Magic are eighth, the Charlotte Hornets are ninth and the Miami Heat are 10th; in the West, the Phoenix Suns are seventh, the Portland Trail Blazers are eighth, the Los Angeles Clippers are ninth and the Golden State Warriors are 10th. (nba.com) The schedule spreads those games across four nights. On Tuesday, April 14, Charlotte hosts Miami and Portland visits Phoenix; on Wednesday, April 15, Orlando visits Philadelphia and Golden State visits the Clippers. (nba.com) The final play-in games are set for Friday, April 17. Those matchups will be the losers of the 7-versus-8 games against the winners of the 9-versus-10 games, with the higher remaining seed at home. (nba.com) The tournament has been part of the league’s postseason structure since 2021, after the National Basketball Association first used a play-in format in the 2020 restart at Walt Disney World. The current system keeps more teams alive late in the regular season and turns the bottom of the bracket into sudden-death basketball. (apnews.com) By Saturday, April 18, the bracket will be full and the play-in survivors will move into first-round series against the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each conference. The tournament is short by design: four days, eight teams, four spots. (nba.com)
