Big stars face off in play-in game tournament
The NBA play-in tournament features star power, making those games more high profile and making the league happy.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers; Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors; Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers; Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat; Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks; DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls; Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings; and Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The league wanted to create more interest in its regular season and make it possible for more teams to reach the playoffs while trying to curtail tanking.
On the final day of the 2023-24 regular season on Sunday, multiple teams wanted to win and avoid the play-in tournament while several other teams were trying to avoid ninth and 10th place and make their road to the first round easier.
Here’s what you need to know about the play-in tournament:
Who made the play-in?
Eastern Conference: Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks
Western Conference: New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings
Play-in game matchups TUESDAY
No. 8 Los Angeles at No. 7 New Orleans, TNT, 7:30 p.m. EDT
⬤ Winner is the No. 7 seed against No. 2 Denver in a first-round series.
No. 10 Golden State at No. 9 Sacramento, TNT, 10 p.m. EDT.
WEDNESDAY
No. 8 Miami at No. 7 Philadelphia, ESPN, 7 p.m. EDT.
⬤ Winner is the No. 7 seed against No. 2 New York in a first-round series.
No. 10 Atlanta at No. 9 Chicago, ESPN, 9:30 p.m. EDT.
FRIDAY
Loser of Miami-Philadelphia vs. winner of Atlanta-Chicago, ESPN, Time TBD.
⬤ Winner is the No. 8 seed against No. 1 Boston in a first-round series.
Loser of Los Angeles Lakers-Pelicans vs. winner of Golden-State Sacramento, TNT, Time TBD.
⬤ Winner is the No. 8 seed against No. 1 Oklahoma City in a first-round series.
What is the play-in tournament format?
The play-in format involves the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10 seeds in both conferences. The seventh-place team plays the eighth-place team, and the ninth-place team plays the 10th-place team. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the seventh seed in the playoffs vs. the No. 2 seed in the first round, and the loser of the 7-8 game plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the eighth seed and a first-round series against the No. 1 seed. The 7-8 teams just need to win one game to make the playoffs, and the 9-10 teams need to win twice.
Seed Nos. 1-6 in both conferences are guaranteed a first-round series.
Play-in history
The seventh-place team is 5-1, and the ninth-place team is 4-2; the No. 8 seed is 1-0 against the No. 10 seed, and the No. 7 seed is 1-0 against the No. 10 season; the ninth-place team is 3-1 against the eighth-place team for the eighth seed.
Last season was the first time a playin team won a playoff series since the four-team play-in tournament began in 2021. The eighth-seeded Heat advanced to the NBA Finals with victories over No. 1 seed Milwaukee, No. 5 seed New York and No. 2 Boston before losing to the West’s No. 1 seed Denver in the NBA Finals, and the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers beat No. 2 seed Memphis and No. 6 seed Golden State before losing to the Nuggets in the conference finals in 2023.
When do the first-round best-of-7 series begin?
First-round playoff games begin with series openers Saturday and Sunday.