Play‑In kicks off
The NBA postseason shifts straight into elimination mode this week, with play‑in games starting Tuesday and First Round Game 1s slated to begin April 18. The immediate slate includes Heat vs. Hornets at 7:30 p.m. ET and Trail Blazers vs. Suns at 10 p.m. ET (on Prime Video), as the league moves from seeding math to do‑or‑die matchups. (x.com) (si.com)
The National Basketball Association postseason starts Tuesday, April 14, with four play-in teams fighting for the last two playoff spots in each conference. (nba.com) The Tuesday slate opens with the Charlotte Hornets hosting the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, then the Phoenix Suns host the Portland Trail Blazers at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. The league says all play-in games will stream exclusively on Prime Video. (nba.com) The format gives the No. 7 and No. 8 finishers in each conference two chances to reach the playoffs, while the No. 9 and No. 10 teams face immediate elimination. The winners of the 7-versus-8 games clinch the No. 7 seed, and the winners of the final play-in games claim the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) In the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers finished No. 7, the Orlando Magic No. 8, the Hornets No. 9 and the Heat No. 10. In the Western Conference, the Suns finished No. 7, the Trail Blazers No. 8, the Los Angeles Clippers No. 9 and the Golden State Warriors No. 10. (si.com) That means Tuesday’s Hornets-Heat game is a straight elimination game, while Suns-Trail Blazers is for the West’s No. 7 seed. The losers and winners then feed into the Thursday and Friday play-in games that finish the bracket before the first round begins on Saturday, April 18. (nba.com) The play-in tournament has been part of the league’s postseason structure since 2021, expanding the number of teams with a path into the bracket after the regular season. The National Basketball Association says the event covers the teams that finish seventh through 10th in each conference. (nba.com) The regular season ended Sunday, April 12, which locked in the field and the seeding math that had been shifting through the final weekend. Sports Illustrated’s bracket shows the Oklahoma City Thunder as the West’s No. 1 seed at 64-18 and the Cleveland Cavaliers as the East’s No. 1 seed at 67-15. (si.com) Once the play-in ends on Friday, April 17, the bracket turns into standard best-of-seven series starting the next day. The National Basketball Association has set Game 1 of the 2026 Finals for June 3. (nba.com)
