NBA Play-In Tournament Rules and Format Explained: How the Seventh, Eighth Playoff Seeds Are Decided

The NBA’s unique 2020 playoffs left their mark on the league. That season, impacted by the spread of COVID-19, led the full league to relocate to a “bubble” in Orlando, where they completed the regular season and the entirety of the playoffs. In the end, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers took home the title.

While the bubble is a thing of the past, the league has kept one holdover from 2020: the play-in tournament. Each year, 16 of the NBA’s 30 teams still make the true playoff bracket, but the final two seeds of each conference are determined by a pair of four-team mini-tournament.

The system was adjusted for the post-bubble world in time for the 2020–21 postseason, with the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds and the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds facing off to begin the event. The winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game earns the No. 7 seed in the playoff. The loser of that game faces the winner of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchup, with the winner of that game earning the eighth and final seed in each conference.

Current 2025–26 NBA Standings (After Games on Wednesday, April 8)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry smiles at the crowd during a game against the Sacramento Kings. — For the third year in a row, Stephen Curry and the Warriors will be in the play-in tournament. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

Every NBA team has played either 79 or 80 of 82 regular season games so far. The regular season wraps up this Sunday, April 12. The top six teams in each conference will be locked into playoff spots, while the seventh through 10th seeds will participate in the play-in tournament, beginning on Tuesday, April 14.

Eastern Conference standings

Seed	Team	Record
1	Pistons	58–22
2	Celtics	54–25
3	Knicks	51–28
4	Cavaliers	51–29
5	Hawks	45–35
6	Raptors	44–35
7	Magic	44–36
8	76ers	43–36
9	Hornets	43–36
10	Heat	41–38
11	Bucks	31–49
12	Bulls	30–49
13	Nets	20–59
14	Pacers	18–61
15	Wizards	17–62

Detroit has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the East. Boston, New York and Cleveland will be top-four seeds. The bottom five teams—Milwaukee, Chicago, Brooklyn, Indiana and Washington—have been eliminated.

The rest of the conference is truly up in the air. Atlanta, Toronto and Orlando can all still finish anywhere from fifth to ninth. Philadelphia and Charlotte can finish between fifth and 10th. Only Miami is guaranteed to be a play-in team, though they can finish as high as eighth.

Western Conference standings

Seed	Team	Record
1	Thunder	64–16
2	Spurs	61–19
3	Nuggets	52–28
4	Lakers	50–29
5	Rockets	50–29
6	Timberwolves	47–33
7	Suns	44–36
8	Clippers	41–39
9	Trail Blazers	40–40
10	Warriors	37–42
11	Pelicans	26–54
12	Grizzlies	25–55
13	Mavericks	25–55
14	Kings	21–59
15	Jazz	21–59

The Western Conference is a bit more settled. Like the East, the bottom five teams have all been eliminated. Additionally, the top six protected seeds are locked in place, while Phoenix, the L.A. Clippers, Portland and Golden State are the four play-in teams. The Clippers and Blazers can still flip between eight and nine.

Oklahoma City is locked in as the No. 2 seed, followed by San Antonio. Minnesota is the No. 6 seed. Denver, Los Angeles (sans Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves) and Houston are still jockeying for position in the three-to-five spots, with home court advantage for the first round and, more importantly, the ability to hold off on a series against the Thunder on the line.

2026 Play-in tournament schedule

This year's play-in tournament runs from Tuesday, April 14 through Friday, April 17.

This year, all six play-in games will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service. Games will be played at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET on April 14, 15 and 17 to decide the final four playoff teams.

How play-in tournament teams have fared through the years

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo attempts to pass against the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game. — Bam Adebayo and the Heat advanced from the play-in tournament all the way to the 2023 NBA Finals, where they lost to Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

2020 NBA playoffs

The league launched the play-in concept at the Orlando bubble for any ninth-seed that finished the season within four games of the eighth-seed. That was the case in the Western Conference, with the No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies (34–39) finishing a half-game behind the No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers. The two faced off in the play-in game, with the Blazers winning 126–122.

Portland would lose to the eventual NBA champion Lakers in the opening series, 4–1.

2021 NBA playoffs

The modern play-in format took over the following season, with the defending champion Lakers among the big-name franchises participating. Teams that clinched playoff spots are in bold.

No. 7 Celtics 118, No. 8 Wizards 100
No. 9 Pacers 144, No. 10 Hornets 117
No. 8 Wizards 142, No. 9 Pacers 115

No. 7 Lakers 103, No. 8 Warriors 100
No. 9 Grizzlies 100, No. 10 Spurs 96
No. 9 Grizzlies 117, No. 8 Warriors 112 (OT)

In the Eastern Conference, Boston and Washington both fell in five games to Brooklyn and Philadelphia respectively. Memphis fell to Utah 4–1, while L.A. managed to win two games but fell to Phoenix in six.

2022 NBA playoffs

No. 7 Nets 115, No. 8 Cavaliers 108
No. 9 Hawks 132, No. 10 Hornets 103
No. 9 Hawks 107, No. 8 Cavaliers 101

No. 7 Timberwolves 109, No. 8 Clippers 104
No. 9 Pelicans 113, No. 10 Spurs 103
No. 9 Pelicans 105, No. 8 Clippers 101

The Nets were swept by the Celtics and the Hawks lost in five games to the Heat. The Pelicans and Timberwolves both won two games in their series, falling to the Suns and Grizzlies.

2023 NBA playoffs

No. 8 Hawks 116, No. 7 Heat 105
No. 10 Bulls 109, No. 9 Raptors 105
No. 7 Heat 102, No. 10 Bulls 91

No. 7 Lakers 108, No. 8 Timberwolves 102 (OT)
No. 10 Thunder 123, No. 9 Pelicans 118
No. 8 Timberwolves 120, No. 10 Thunder 95

The Heat, becoming the eight seed after losing their first play-in game, knocked off the No. 1 Bucks 4–1, and would make an incredible run to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Western Conference one-seed Nuggets 4–1. The Hawks fell in their opening series to the Celtics, 4–2. In the West, the Timberwolves fell to the Nuggets 4–1, but the Lakers managed to win a pair of series, taking down the Grizzlies and Warriors, both in six games.

2024 NBA playoffs

No. 7 76ers 105, No. 8 Heat 104
No. 9 Bulls 131, No. 10 Hawks 116
No. 8 Heat 112, No. 9 Bulls 91

No. 8 Lakers 110, No. 7 Pelicans 106
No. 9 Kings 118, No. 10 Warriors 94
No. 7 Pelicans 105, No. 9 Kings 98

The Heat fell to the Celtics 4–1, and the 76ers dropped their series with the Knicks 4–2. The Pelicans were swept by the Thunder and the Lakers fell in five games to the Nuggets.

2025 NBA playoffs

No. 7 Magic 120, No. 8 Hawks 95
No. 10 Heat 109, No. 9 Bulls 90
No. 10 Heat 123, No. 9 Hawks 114 (OT)

No. 7 Warriors 121, No. 8 Grizzlies 116
No. 10 Mavericks 120, No. 9 Kings 106
No. 8 Grizzlies 120, No. 10 Mavericks 106

The play-in teams out of the East did not fare well in the playoffs, with the Magic losing in five games to the Celtics and the Heat getting swept in four games by the top-seeded Cavaliers.

The Grizzlies failed to take a game from the eventual champion Thunder. The Warriors, no strangers to the play-in tournament, knocked off the second-seeded Rockets in seven games before falling to the Timberwolves in five.

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