NBA play‑in kicks off
The NBA’s play‑in tournament officially begins Tuesday, April 14, with eight teams competing for the final playoff slots. (cbssports.com) The format hands the winners of the 7‑vs‑8 games the No. 7 seed, while losers get one more chance against the winners of the 9‑vs‑10 games to claim the No. 8 seed. (cbssports.com) The full 20‑team postseason field is now set as the play‑in decides who advances to the traditional bracket. (cbssports.com)
The National Basketball Association play-in tournament opens Tuesday, April 14, with four playoff spots still undecided before the first round starts Saturday, April 18. (nba.com) Eight teams are in it: the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat in the East, and the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors in the West. The official bracket lists Philadelphia and Phoenix as the No. 7 seeds entering the week. (nba.com) Tuesday’s games are Miami at Charlotte at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time and Portland at Phoenix at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Wednesday’s games are Orlando at Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time and Golden State at Los Angeles at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with all four games listed on Prime Video. (espn.com) The format gives the No. 7 and No. 8 teams one cushion game. The winner of each 7-versus-8 matchup becomes the conference’s No. 7 seed, while the loser gets one more game against the winner of the 9-versus-10 matchup for the No. 8 seed on Friday, April 17. (nba.com) That leaves four first-round series already set and four still waiting on the play-in. The confirmed matchups are Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets, and Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers. (espn.com) The other four playoff spots are reserved for games against the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons in the East, and the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the West. The National Basketball Association’s playoff bracket page shows those four opponents as “7 Seed” or “8 Seed” placeholders until the play-in ends. (nba.com) The play-in has been part of the league’s postseason structure since 2021 after a trial run in the 2020 restart at Walt Disney World. It expanded the postseason race from 16 teams to 20 by giving the teams that finish seventh through 10th in each conference a path into the bracket. (nba.com) The standings show how tight that race was in several spots. Philadelphia and Orlando both finished 45-37 in the East, while Phoenix finished 45-37 and Portland 42-40 in the West, leaving seed order and survival to this four-day round. (espn.com) By Friday night, the full field of 16 will be locked. The first round begins the next morning, April 18, with the play-in winners dropped straight into best-of-seven series. (nba.com)
