Play‑In kicks off Tuesday
The NBA has shifted into play-in mode: the 2026 Play‑In Tournament begins Tuesday with the teams that finished 7th through 10th in each conference competing for the final 7th and 8th playoff seeds. ( ). Oklahoma City and Detroit finished as the No. 1 seeds in their conferences, the Nuggets landed the No. 3 seed while the Lakers are No. 4, and Toronto clinched a playoff spot outright to avoid the play‑in. ( )
The National Basketball Association postseason shifts to the play-in on Tuesday, April 14, with eight teams chasing the last four spots in the playoff bracket. (nba.com) In the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers face the Orlando Magic in the 7-versus-8 game, and the Charlotte Hornets play the Miami Heat in the 9-versus-10 game. In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns meet the Portland Trail Blazers, while the Los Angeles Clippers face the Golden State Warriors. (nba.com) The format gives the 7th- and 8th-place teams two chances to qualify. The winner of each 7-versus-8 game becomes the No. 7 seed, and the loser gets one more game against the winner of the 9-versus-10 matchup for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The play-in runs from April 14 through April 17, and the first round starts Saturday, April 18. The National Basketball Association’s playoff field is not complete until those four games determine the final two seeds in each conference. (nba.com, nbcphiladelphia.com) Six teams in each conference already skipped the extra round by finishing in the top six. Oklahoma City earned the No. 1 seed in the West at 64-18, and Detroit took the No. 1 seed in the East at 60-22. (si.com, nba.com) The rest of the locked first-round bracket is already in place. Denver finished No. 3 in the West and will play No. 6 Minnesota, while the No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers drew the No. 5 Houston Rockets; in the East, No. 5 Toronto avoided the play-in by clinching a direct playoff berth and will face No. 4 Cleveland. (nbcphiladelphia.com, si.com, bleacherreport.com) The play-in was created to keep more teams alive late in the regular season and to reduce incentives to slide down the standings. It has been part of the league’s postseason structure since 2021 after debuting in the 2020 restart at Walt Disney World. (nba.com, usatoday.com) By Friday night, the bracket will be complete: Detroit and Boston will know their Eastern Conference opponents, and Oklahoma City and San Antonio will know theirs in the West. (nba.com, nba.com)
