Play‑In opens tonight
The NBA Play‑In Tournament starts tonight with the 7‑through‑10 seeds in each conference fighting for the final four playoff spots, and the 7‑seed hosts the 8‑seed with the loser getting another shot against the 9‑vs‑10 winner. (CBS Sports ) TV schedules put the East 7‑8 game first and the West 7‑8 game next on April 14, with the 9‑10 games on April 15 — the full first‑round bracket will be set once those winners are decided. (Yahoo Sports )
The National Basketball Association postseason starts Tuesday, April 14, with the Play-In Tournament deciding the last four spots in the 2026 playoff bracket. (nba.com) The field is set: Philadelphia and Orlando finished 45-37 and landed in the Eastern Conference 7-8 game, while Phoenix at 45-37 and Portland at 42-40 drew the Western Conference 7-8 game. Charlotte at 44-38 hosts Miami at 43-39 in the East 9-10 game, and the Los Angeles Clippers at 42-40 host Golden State at 37-45 in the West 9-10 game. (nba.com) (basketball-reference.com) The format gives the No. 7 and No. 8 teams two chances to qualify. The 7-8 winner takes the No. 7 seed, while the loser gets one more home game against the 9-10 winner for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) Opening night has two games on Prime Video: Miami at Charlotte at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, then Portland at Phoenix at 10 p.m. Eastern time. The other two games follow on Wednesday, April 15, with Orlando at Philadelphia at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time and Golden State at the Clippers at 10 p.m. Eastern time. (nba.com) (sportingnews.com) The winners of those 7-8 games move straight into the first round, which begins Saturday, April 18. The losers stay alive until Friday, April 17, when each conference plays one final elimination game to lock in the No. 8 seeds. (nba.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Ten playoff spots were clinched before Sunday’s regular-season finale, and the play-in filled the gap between those automatic berths and the full 16-team bracket. Detroit earned the No. 1 seed in the East at 60-22, and Oklahoma City took the No. 1 seed in the West at 64-18. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) That leaves the top of each bracket waiting on opponents. Detroit will face the eventual East No. 8 seed, Boston will face the East No. 7 seed, Oklahoma City will face the West No. 8 seed, and San Antonio will face the West No. 7 seed. (nba.com) The tournament is still a relatively new fixture in the league calendar. The National Basketball Association introduced a version of the play-in in 2020 and made it a permanent part of the postseason structure in 2022. (nba.com) This year is also the first under the league’s new media-rights setup in which all six play-in games stream exclusively on Prime Video. By Friday night, the bracket that started taking shape on April 12 will be complete. (msn.com) (nba.com)
