The NBA playoffs begin Tuesday with the fifth edition of the play-in tournament, a set of games that will determine the final two qualifiers in the Eastern and Western Conference
And, yes, both play-in participants the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State are in the running for another title.
Because of the congestion at the top of the Eastern and Western conferences and also at the bottom of the West, the pairings were not decided until the last game of the regular season Sunday.
The top six teams in each conference automatically advanced to the postseason, while the No. 7-10 finishers in each play for the final two playoff spots.
THE PLAY-IN SCHEDULE
WESTERN CONFERENCE
April 16
LA Lakers at New Orleans, 7:30 pm ET, TNT
Golden State at Sacramento,10 pm ET, TNT
April 19
Sacramento/Golden State winner at New Orleans/LA Lakers loser, TBD, TNT
EASTERN CONFERENCE
April 17
Miami at Philadelphia, 7 pm ET, ESPN
Atlanta at Chicago, 9:30 pm ET, ESPN
April 19
Chicago/Atlanta winner at Philadelphia/Miami loser, TBD, ESPN
PLAY-IN HISTORY
The NBA Board of Governors adopted the play-in format in the 2020 COVID season, when teams did not play the same amount of games due to scheduling irregularities created by the pandemic. It was not an immediate hit.
“Whoever came up with that (expletive) needs to be fired,” Lakers forward LeBron James said in May, 2021.
When the NBA to normalcy in 2021, the Board ruled to adjust the playin system to its current form. The Board made it a permanent fixture in July 2022.
The play-in games have followed form, but there have been a few exceptions. All the No. 7 seeds in the play-in round have advantage to the playoffs, but three No. 9 seeds have won twice to advance.
West No. 9 Memphis beat San Antonio and Golden State in 2021, West No. 9 New Orleans beat San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers in 2022 and East No. 9 Atlanta beat Charlotte and Cleveland, also in 2022.
No. 8 seed Miami won a play-in game last season en route to the NBA Finals.
A LOOK AT EACH CONFERENCE
EASTERN CONFERENCE
The play-in matchups in the East turned on a tiebreaker rule involving Orlando, Indiana and Philadelphia, which finished tied for fifth with identical 47-35 records.
The first tiebreaker in any scenario requires a division winner to be seeded above other teams with the same record, so the Southeast Division champion Magic received the No. 5 seed.
Indiana won the season series against the 76ers, two games to one, making the Pacers No. 6 seed.
That relegated Sixers to seventh seed and the play-in round, where they will play a home game against Miami in the first round Tuesday. The winner of that game will meet the No. 2 finished New York Knicks in a best-of-seven playoff series.
If the Sixers lose, they will have another home game against the winner of the Chicago-Atlanta game for the final playoff spot.
The Knicks finished one game ahead of Milwaukee for the second seed when they beat Chicago in overtime Sunday and the Bucks lost to Orlando. The Bucks played without Giannis Antetokounmpo.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Phoenix avoided the play-in by beating Minnesota on Sunday, a loss that also prevented the Timberwolves from claiming the No. 1 seed in the West. Oklahoma City is No. 1, defending NBA champion Denver is No. 2 and the Wolves dropped to third.
The Suns won the season series against New Orleans to claim the No. 6 seed, dropping the Pelicans into a playin game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Sacramento won the season series against Golden State, which means the Kings will host the Warriors in a playin game.
A path remains for both 2020 champion Lakers and the Warriors to advance. Golden State won in 2022 and has won four times since 2015 while reaching the NBA Finals six times since.