Play‑In Tournament starts Tuesday

The National Basketball Association’s play-in tournament opens Tuesday, April 14, with eight teams chasing the last four playoff spots. (nba.com) The tournament runs through Friday, April 17, and the full playoffs start Saturday, April 18, according to the league’s postseason calendar. (nba.com) The format gives each conference’s seventh-place team one home game against the eighth-place team, with the winner taking the No. 7 seed. The ninth-place team hosts the 10th-place team, and that loser is out immediately. (sports.yahoo.com) The losers of the 7-versus-8 games then host the winners of the 9-versus-10 games on Friday for the No. 8 seed. Four teams advance, and four teams are eliminated before the first round begins. (sports.yahoo.com) In the Western Conference, Phoenix is locked into No. 7 and Golden State is locked into No. 10. Portland and the Los Angeles Clippers entered Sunday still sorting out Nos. 8 and 9. (nba.com) In the Eastern Conference, Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland and Atlanta had already secured the top five spots, but the race below them was still moving into the regular-season finale. Toronto, Orlando and Philadelphia were still alive for No. 6, while Charlotte and Miami had clinched play-in berths. (nba.com) That made Sunday, April 12, more than a formality: the No. 6 seed avoids the play-in entirely, while Nos. 7 through 10 have to survive this extra round. The league said seeds still unsettled entering the finale included East Nos. 5 through 10 and West Nos. 8 and 9. (nba.com) The game windows are set even where some matchups were not. Tuesday’s games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, Wednesday’s for 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and 10 p.m. Eastern Time, and Friday’s two win-or-go-home games for the same slots. (si.com) Sports Illustrated reported that Prime Video will carry all six play-in games this year. The outlet said the package is part of Amazon’s new National Basketball Association media deal. (si.com) The current version of the play-in has been in place since the 2020-21 season, turning the final week of the regular season into a race for both survival and positioning. By Friday night, the bracket will be complete and the first-round matchups will be set. (sports.yahoo.com)