With the regular season finishing Sunday, the NBA’s postseason is set to begin Tuesday with the play-in tournament.
The Lakers, who finished third in the Western Conference, and the Clippers (fifth) qualified for the first round of the playoffs, which begin next weekend.
The NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament came during the COVID-19-interrupted 2019-20 season as a way to make it more competitive when the regular season resumed in the bubble at the Walt Disney World sports complex near Orlando, Fla. After another experimental postseason utilizing the play-in tournament, the NBA’s board of governors voted in July 2022 to keep the format.
Here’s the two-round, three-game format in each conference:
The top six teams in each conference at the end of the regular season qualify for the first round of the playoffs while the teams in seventh through 10th place enter the play-in tournament from Tuesday through Friday for the final two playoff spots.
The No. 7 team hosts No. 8 with the winner earning the seventh seed into the playoffs while the No. 9 team hosts No. 10 in an elimination game. The loser of the 7-8 game then hosts the winner of the 9-10 game with that winner earning the eighth seed.
Here’s the play-in schedule (times PDT):
FIRST ROUND
Tuesday, April 15
East: No. 8 Atlanta at No. 7 Orlando, 4:30 p.m., TNT (winner seeded 7th)
West: No. 8 Memphis at No. 7 Golden State, 7 p.m., TNT (winner seeded 7th)
Wednesday, April 16
East: No. 10 Miami at No. 9 Chicago, 4:30 p.m., ESPN (loser eliminated)
West: No. 10 Dallas at No. 9 Sacramento, 7 p.m., ESPN (loser eliminated)
SECOND ROUND
Friday, April 18
East 9-10 winner at East 7-8 loser, 4:30 p.m., TNT (winner seeded 8th)
West 9-10 winner at West 7-8 loser, 7 p.m., ESPN (winner seeded 8th)
