2024 NBA Play-In Tournament Bracket for Eastern Conference: All Seeds and Matchups Confirmed

Now that the final games in the Eastern Conference have concluded, the NBA Play-In Tournament is finally set. The four teams who will battle it out to determine who gets the last two Playoff berths will be the Atlanta Hawks against the Chicago Bulls and the Philadelphia 76ers versus the Miami Heat.

The Bulls vs Hawks matchup has been decided for a while now. However, with the record for the teams in the middle of the pack being so close, fans have had to wait until the final game of the season to find out who finishes the season as the seventh and eighth seeds.

The 76ers are determined to remain in contention after their season was sidetracked due to an injury to Joel Embiid. After beating the Brooklyn Nets 107-86 in their last game of the season, they secured seventh place in the East and have an easier road to the playoffs than the Bulls or the Hawks.

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat, who are hoping to return to the NBA Finals once again, triumphed over the Toronto Raptors to secure the eighth place as well as the opportunity to battle the 76ers for a playoff berth in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

It makes the second straight season wherein the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks are in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

---

The Miami Heat and the Philadelphia 76ers have a twice-to-beat advantage in the NBA Play-In Tournament

As the seventh and eighth-place teams in the Eastern Conference, the Heat and the 76ers have better chances to make the playoffs than the Bulls or the Hawks.

Whoever loses the game between the ninth-place Bulls and the 10th-placed Hawks will automatically get eliminated from the NBA Play-In tournament. Meanwhile, the team that loses the clash between the Heat and the 76ers will get one more chance.

That's because whoever wins the battle between nine and 10 will have to win one more game to secure a playoff berth. The team they will have to face? Whoever loses the game between seven and eight.

Basically, it means that both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat have a twice-to-beat advantage in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Meanwhile, either the Hawks or the Bulls will need to win twice just to become the eighth-seed playoff team.

---

The Miami Heat made it to the Finals as the eighth-seed team last year

Last season, the Miami Heat finished as the number seven team in the East, which guaranteed them a Play-In spot. In the first round of the Play-In, they lost to the Atlanta Hawks, which automatically sent the Hawks to the seventh seed in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Heat got another chance, battling the Chicago Bulls for the final playoff berth. Jimmy Butler and co. pulled off the win, but that was only the beginning for them.

They upset the Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs, beat the New York Knicks 4-2 in the second round. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they pulled ahead 3-0 against the Boston Celtics before a valiant comeback effort that saw the series become tied at 3-3.

Boston almost became the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA Playoff history, but the Heat clamped them down in Game 7. After an impressive run to come out of the East, the Heat ended up losing to the Denver Nuggets in five games in the Finals.