NBA PLAYOFFS TIME! YESSSS!
… Well, sort of. It’s the 2023 NBA play-in tournament — just like the First Four in men’s March Madness! — the now-annual pre-playoffs meeting of teams in each conference trying to grab the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in the postseason.
We’ve got all the information you need to know, including how the whole thing works (it can be very confusing) for the squads in the East and West who want in on the postseason.
How does it all work? When can you watch it? Fear not! Let’s make this as uncomplicated as we can. We’ll go step by step here:
1
Let's start with the teams involved
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
The current Nos. 7 through 10 seeds in the East and West are involved:
East
7. Miami Heat
8. Atlanta Hawks
9. Toronto Raptors
10. Chicago Bulls
West
7. Los Angeles Lakers
8. Minnesota Timberwolves
9. New Orleans Pelicans
10. Oklahoma City Thunder
2
What's the schedule? (All times Eastern)
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Tuesday, April 11
Hawks at Heat (7:30 p.m., TNT)
Timberwolves at Lakers (10 p.m., TNT)
Wednesday, April 12
Bulls at Raptors (7 p.m., ESPN)
Thunder at Pelicans (9:30 p.m., ESPN)
Friday, April 14
The winners of the two games between the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds will play the losers of the Nos. 7 and 8 games:
East Game: 7 or 7:30 p.m.
West Game: 9:30 or 10 p.m.
3
Wait, how does this all work?
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
1. Let’s start with the Nos. 7 and 8 seed games: The winner of that game will be the official No. 7 seed in the playoffs.
The loser will continue in the tournament. We’ll get to that in a sec.
2. Next, we get to the 9 vs. 10 games: The loser of those games will be eliminated and put into the NBA lottery.
The winner of that game moves on in the tournament and …
3. The winner of the 9 and 10 game will play the loser of the 7 and 8 game. The winner of that game will be the official No. 8 seed in the conference. Got it?
4
Has a play-in team ever won an NBA playoff series?
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
No. But maybe that changes this year!
