Play‑In starts April 14
The NBA Play‑In Tournament begins Tuesday, April 14 and runs through Friday, April 17, with the 7th–through‑10th seeds in each conference competing for the final playoff spots. (sportingnews.com)(sports.yahoo.com) The format keeps the 7‑vs‑8 and 9‑vs‑10 pairings — the 7/8 winner clinches the No.7 seed while the 9/10 loser is eliminated — and the full playoff field was finalized on April 13. (sportingnews.com)(sports.yahoo.com)
The National Basketball Association postseason starts Tuesday night with two do-or-die games and two more playoff spots still up for grabs. (nba.com) The league’s official schedule has the Charlotte Hornets hosting the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on April 14, followed by the Phoenix Suns against the No. 8 team in the Western Conference at 10 p.m. Eastern. On Wednesday, April 15, the Philadelphia 76ers play the Orlando Magic at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and the Western Conference 9-versus-10 game follows at 10 p.m. Eastern. (nba.com) The format gives teams that finished seventh or eighth two chances to get in. 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 matchup for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The 9-versus-10 games work like single elimination from the opening tip. The loser is out immediately, and the winner advances to Friday’s final play-in game. (nba.com) This year’s bracket locked in after the regular season ended April 12, with the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics taking the top two seeds in the East and the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs taking the top two seeds in the West. The play-in winners will slide into those first-round brackets before the playoffs open April 18. (nba.com) The current field shows Orlando at No. 7 and Philadelphia at No. 8 in the East, with Charlotte at No. 9 and Miami at No. 10. In the West, Phoenix is No. 7, Portland is No. 8, the Los Angeles Clippers are No. 9, and the Golden State Warriors are No. 10. (nba.com) All four play-in games will stream exclusively on Prime Video, a change from recent postseasons when the tournament rotated across cable and broadcast partners. The first round that follows will be split across American Broadcasting Company, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, National Broadcasting Company, Peacock, and Prime Video. (nba.com) (sports.yahoo.com) The play-in tournament became a permanent part of the league calendar in 2022 after debuting in the 2020 Orlando bubble and returning in 2021. Since then, it has turned the bottom of the playoff race into a second sprint, with seeds seven through 10 still playing meaningful games into the season’s final weekend. (nba.com) By Friday night, all 16 playoff teams will be set. The first full playoff weekend starts Saturday, April 18. (nba.com)
