The NBA regular season ended Wednesday, and the league will open its sixth annual Play-In Tournament on Tuesday, April 14, with games running through Friday, April 17. The format remains the same as it has been since 2021. In each conference, the seventh seed hosts the eighth seed in a single game, with the winner securing the seven seed. The ninth seed hosts the tenth seed, and the loser is eliminated from the postseason. The winner of that game then travels to play the loser of the seven versus eight game, with the survivor grabbing the final playoff spot.
In the Western Conference, the seven seed Golden State Warriors will host the eight seed Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night at Chase Center. The Warriors finished 46 and 36 behind a healthy Stephen Curry, who averaged 27 points and 6 assists while playing 72 games, his highest total since 2016. Sacramento went 44 and 38 with Domantas Sabonis posting another All Star caliber season and De'Aaron Fox returning from a foot injury in late March. The two teams split their four regular season meetings, with home court winning each game.
The nine seed Phoenix Suns will host the ten seed Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday in the other Western matchup. Phoenix has been a story of wild inconsistency all season, with Devin Booker carrying a heavier load than expected after Kevin Durant missed 30 games with a calf strain. Dallas enters with Luka Doncic averaging 33 points per game but with the second worst defensive rating among playoff contenders. The loser of this game goes home. The winner travels to face the Tuesday loser on Friday for the eight seed and a first round date with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In the Eastern Conference, the seven seed Miami Heat will host the eight seed Chicago Bulls on Tuesday at Kaseya Center. Miami finished 43 and 39 behind Bam Adebayo and a late season surge from Tyler Herro, who returned from a hand injury in March. Chicago went 41 and 41 in Josh Giddey's second year running the offense. The Bulls have not won a Play-In game since the tournament was introduced. The Heat are 3 and 0 in Play-In games under Erik Spoelstra.
The nine seed Atlanta Hawks and ten seed Orlando Magic will meet Wednesday in Atlanta. Trae Young returned from his wrist injury in late March, and the Hawks finished the season on a 9 and 4 run. Orlando's season has been defined by Paolo Banchero taking another step forward and posting 24 points and 8 rebounds per game, though the team struggled with interior depth after Wendell Carter Jr went down in February. The winner of that game advances to face the Tuesday loser for the final playoff spot.
The one seed in the West is the Oklahoma City Thunder at 64 and 18, the best record in the league and the franchise's first one seed since the Kevin Durant era. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the heavy favorite to win his second consecutive MVP award. The two seed is the Denver Nuggets at 57 and 25, followed by Houston, Minnesota, and the Los Angeles Lakers. In the East, the Boston Celtics finished 59 and 23 as the one seed, followed by Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee.
Television coverage for the Play-In will run on ESPN and TNT, with ESPN airing the Tuesday Western Conference game and TNT carrying the Eastern game. The Wednesday nine versus ten matchups will also split between the two networks. Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters on a Thursday conference call that the Play-In has proven popular with fans and broadcasters and that the league has no plans to change the format or expand it further.
First round playoff games are scheduled to begin Saturday, April 18, with the higher seed hosting game one and game two of each series. The NBA Finals are currently slated to run from June 4 through June 21 if needed. Last year's Finals averaged 11.8 million viewers on ABC.