The NBA post-season begins tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14, with the play-in tournament, a mini-competition before play-offs disputed between the teams that finished seventh to tenth in the regular season, with two available play-off spots on each conference at stake.
The final night of the regular season ended with the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder securing the top seeds in the East and the West, followed by Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. The play-in teams had already been decided days before the final games, but the order is very important as the teams that finished 7th and 8th will have to play only one match to qualify for play-offs, while 9th and 10th would have to win two matches:
Western Conference:
7. Phoenix Suns
8. Portland Trail Blazers
9. Los Angeles Clippers
10. Golden State Warriors
Eastern Conference:
7. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Orlando Magic
9. Charlotte Hornets
10. Miami Heat
How does the NBA play-in tournament work
The play-in tournament takes place between Tuesday, April 14 (already Wednesday in European time) and Friday, April 17. Teams ranked seventh and eighth play the first match, and the winner automatically qualifies for the play-offs in the seventh spot. The loser of that match will have another shot, against the winner other "semi-final" between the ninth and tenth team.
This is the schedule for the play-in tournament 2026:
Western Conference:
Suns (7) vs. Trail Blazers (8): April 15, 4:00 CEST, 3.00 BST
Clippers (9) vs. Warriors (10): April 16, 4:00 CEST, 3:00 BST
Final: April 18, 4:00 CEST, 3:00 BST
Eastern Conference:
76ers (7) vs. Magic (8): April 16, 1:30 CEST, 00:30 BST
Hornets (9) vs. Heat (10): April 15, 1:30 CEST, 00:30 BST
Final: April 18, 1:30 CEST, 00:30 BST
After that, the play-offs will begin on Saturday, April 18, with the first games scheduled including Cavaliers vs. Raptors, Nuggets vs. Timberwolves, Lakers vs. Rockets, and Knicks vs. Hawks.