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The NBA regular season ends on Sunday, with the play-in tournament beginning on Tuesday and concluding on April 14. The playoffs begin on April 15.
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How does the play-in tournament work?
In the playoffs, the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference standings and the top eight teams in the Western Conference compete on opposite sides, with the winners facing off in the NBA Finals.
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The top six teams during the regular season in each conference are guaranteed spots in the playoff field. The teams that finish seventh through 10th compete in the play-in tournament for the final two seeds.
The seeds are determined by the regular season standings. After the completion of the 82-game season, teams are ranked by win-loss record. If teams are tied, then the first tiebreaker is whichever has the best head-to-head winning percentage between the teams is seeded higher.
The ninth- and 10th-place teams play each other. The winner advances to the next play-in game while the loser is eliminated.
The seventh- and eighth-place teams play each other, with the winner advancing as the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, while the loser takes on the winner from the 9-10 game. The winner of this third play-in game earns the No. 8 seed and enters the first round of the playoffs against the top seed in the conference.
The seventh seed and ninth seed host the first two games, while the loser of the 7-8 game hosts the third play-in game.
The playoffs then begin with the conference quarterfinals and teams play best-of-seven series.
The schedule for the play-in tournament is as follows:
- April 11: Play-In Game 1
- East 7 vs. East 8 > Winner earns 7th seed and advances to NBA Playoffs
- April 11: Play-In Game 2
- West 7 vs. West 8 > Winner earns 7th seed and advances to NBA Playoffs
- April 12: Play-In Game 3
- East 9 vs. East 10 > Winner plays loser of East 7/8 game
- April 12: Play-In Game 4
- West 9 vs. West 10 > Winner plays loser of West 7/8 game
- April 14: Play-In Game 5
- East Loser 7/8 vs. East Winner 9/10 > Winner earns 8th seed and advances to NBA playoffs
- April 14: Play-In Game 6
- West Loser 7/8 vs. West Winner 9/10 > Winner earns 8th seed and advances to NBA playoffs
If the playoffs started Thursday, here are the play-in tournament games.
In the East, the seventh-place Miami Heat would host the eighth-place Atlanta Hawks. The ninth-place Toronto Raptors would host the 10th-place Chicago Bulls.
In the West, the seventh-place LA Lakers would host the eighth-place New Orleans Pelicans. The other game would have the ninth-place Minnesota Timberwolves hosting the 10th-place OKC Thunder. The Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz are not yet eliminated from play-in contention.
