Why are there no NBA games tonight? Exploring reasons for league taking break on April 18th

The NBA play-in tournament will finish its final slate of games on Friday, Apr. 19, before the playoffs begin with all quarterfinal-round matchups secured. The seventh seed for the Eastern and Western Conferences is all finalized, with the LA Lakers off to face the Denver Nuggets, while the Philadelphia 76ers will go head-to-head against the New York Knicks.

However, some fans wonder why there aren't any scheduled matchups today. So, why are there no NBA games tonight? For starters, each day of the play-in tournament consisted of two games from a certain conference. After a scheduled game, the other conference will play in the next game, while the initial conference takes a day off.

Given that the Eastern Conference play-in teams just finished their matchups on Wednesday night, it was only proper for them to have a day off today, similar to the Western Conference teams having no games last night.

Additionally, the NBA will continue to finish the tournament tomorrow with two nationally televised games to confirm which team will be the eighth seed in their conferences.

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Which NBA play-in tournament games are scheduled on Apr. 19?

In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat will face the Chicago Bulls at 7:00 pm ET for tomorrow's NBA game at the Kaseya Center in Miami, FL. It will be televised live on ESPN and can also be checked out on the following radio stations: ESPN Radio, SiriusXM, WQAM 560 / S: WRTO Mix 98.3 FM.

The Heat were up 12 points entering the third quarter against the 76ers when Philadelphia slowly climbed their way back to momentarily claim a three-point lead with 8:58 to go in the fourth quarter. At that point on, it was a competitive back-and-forth between the two teams that ended up with a hard-fought 105-104 victory for the Sixers.

Despite a sluggish outing, 2023 MVP Joel Embiid led the way for Philadelphia with a 23-point outing (6-of-17 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range), 15 rebounds and five assists.

The Bulls, on the other hand, were led by Coby White's electric 42-point performance (15-of-21 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range), nine rebounds, six assists and two steals. His 25 points in the second half were too much for the Hawks to handle as they lost 131-116.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the New Orleans Pelicans will be in a head-to-head matchup against the Sacramento Kings at 9:30 pm ET tomorrow at the Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA. The game will be televised live on TNT and truTV.

Additionally, fans can check it out on the following radio stations: ESPN Radio, SiriusXM, WRNO 99.5FM / S: KGLA 105.7 FM and Sactown Sports 1140 AM.

The New Orleans Pelicans were in a neck-and-neck battle with the LA Lakers on Tuesday night. But after Zion Williamson went out of the game in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lakers took advantage to pull off a 110-106 win.

The Pelicans were led by Williamson's 40-point explosion (17-of-27 shooting) but his team fell short of making up for his absence to propel a victory.

When it comes to the Sacramento Kings, last year's first-round NBA playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors was still fresh in their memory. They came out focused at the defensive end while receiving a balanced scoring effort despite playing without the services of Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk.

Keegan Murray led the Kings with 32 points (10-of-20 shooting, including 8-of-13 from beyond the arc) as Sacramento secured a 118-94 victory.