Play‑In starts this week
The NBA Play‑In Tournament kicks off this week with teams that finished 7th through 10th in each conference fighting for the final 7th and 8th seeds, and the regular first playoff round is scheduled to begin April 18. ( ). Prime Video will air the opening play‑in games Tuesday: Heat vs. Hornets at 7:30pm ET and Trail Blazers vs. Suns at 10pm ET. (x.com).
The National Basketball Association play-in tournament opens Tuesday, April 14, with eight teams chasing the last four playoff spots before the first round starts April 18. (nba.com, usatoday.com) In the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia 76ers are the No. 7 seed, the Orlando Magic are No. 8, the Charlotte Hornets are No. 9, and the Miami Heat are No. 10. In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns are No. 7, the Portland Trail Blazers are No. 8, the Los Angeles Clippers are No. 9, and the Golden State Warriors are No. 10. (nba.com, apnews.com) Tuesday’s games are Heat at Hornets at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and Trail Blazers at Suns at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Wednesday’s games are Magic at 76ers at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and Warriors at Clippers at 10 p.m. Eastern time. (sportingnews.com, si.com) The format gives the No. 7 and No. 8 teams two chances to win one game and reach the playoffs. The winner of each 7-versus-8 game becomes the No. 7 seed, while the loser gets one more game against the winner of the 9-versus-10 matchup for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com, usatoday.com) That setup leaves the No. 9 and No. 10 teams with no margin for error. Miami and Charlotte open in an elimination game Tuesday, and the Clippers and Warriors do the same Wednesday. (nba.com, apnews.com) The regular playoff bracket is already partly set around the play-in field. In the East, the Detroit Pistons are No. 1, the Boston Celtics are No. 2, the New York Knicks are No. 3, the Cleveland Cavaliers are No. 4, the Toronto Raptors are No. 5, and the Atlanta Hawks are No. 6; in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder are No. 1, the San Antonio Spurs are No. 2, the Denver Nuggets are No. 3, the Los Angeles Lakers are No. 4, the Houston Rockets are No. 5, and the Minnesota Timberwolves are No. 6. (nba.com, jsonline.com) Prime Video is carrying the opening play-in games, including Heat-Hornets on Tuesday night and Trail Blazers-Suns in the late window. The tournament runs through Friday, April 17, with the first full playoff weekend beginning Saturday, April 18. (primevideo.com, nba.com) By Friday night, the league will have its final 16-team playoff bracket. Tuesday is the start of that last four-team scramble for the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each conference. (nba.com, usatoday.com)
