| Sport: | Basketball |
| Established: | 2020 (current format) |
| Teams: | 8 total; 4 per conference |
| Format: | Page playoff system |
The NBA play-in tournament is the preliminary National Basketball Association (NBA) postseason tournament. It determines the final two playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference and is played immediately prior to the NBA Playoffs, which is the main tournament of the postseason and regarded by the league as separate from the play-in tournament. Teams finishing the regular season in positions 7 through 10 in the standings for each conference compete to determine the number 7 and 8 seeds in each conference's bracket tournament.
On June 4, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors approved the first ever play-in game for the 2019–20 season. The game was part of the NBA's plans for a bubble as part of its return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic. If the 8 and 9 seeds in either conference were within four games of each other, the two seeds would play each other in up to two play-in games. If the 8 seed won the first game, it would advance to the playoffs. If the 9 seed won the first game, a second game would be played. The winner of the second game would advance to the playoffs.[1]
On November 19, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors approved a format for the 2020–21 season to have a playoff play-in tournament involving the teams that ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. On July 22, 2022, the NBA Board of Governors made this format permanent.[2]
The format is similar to the first two rounds of the Page–McIntyre system for a four-team playoff. The 9th place team hosts the 10th place team, with the loser being eliminated. The 7th place team hosts the 8th place team in the double-chance game, with the winner advancing as the 7-seed. The loser of the 7/8 game hosts the winner of the 9/10 game, with the winner receiving the 8-seed. The NBA's regular playoff format then proceeds as normal.[3]
The current bracket structure in each conference is as follows:
See also: 2020 NBA playoffs. 2020 was the only season to use the original play-in game structure. The teams finishing 8th and 9th in each conference competed for the final playoff seed in their conference, but only if they finished within four games of each other,[1] in which case the lower-ranked team could advance to their conference playoffs only by defeating the higher-ranked team twice.
Because ninth-place Memphis (34–39) finished the season one-half game behind eighth-place Portland (35–39), a play-in was required to determine the 8th seed in the conference.[4]
Because ninth-place Washington (25–47) finished games behind eighth-place Orlando (33–40), no play-in was contested.[5]
See also: 2021 NBA playoffs. 2021 was the first season to use the Page–McIntyre system. Teams finishing in positions 7 through 10 in each conference qualified for play-in games to determine the final two playoff seeds for each conference.[3]
See also: 2022 NBA playoffs. 2022 was the second season to use the Page–McIntyre system. Teams finishing in positions 7 through 10 in each conference qualified for play-in games to determine the final two playoff seeds for each conference.[3]
See also: 2023 NBA playoffs. 2023 was the third season to use the Page–McIntyre system. Teams finishing in positions 7 through 10 in each conference qualified for play-in games to determine the final two playoff seeds for each conference.[3]
See also: 2024 NBA playoffs. 2024 was the fourth season to use the Page–McIntyre system. Teams finishing in positions 7 through 10 in each conference qualified for play-in games to determine the final two playoff seeds for each conference.[3]
New Orleans has played five play-in games, the most games played by a team in the play-in tournament. New Orleans, Atlanta, and the Los Angeles Lakers have won the most play-in games, with three.
The 2022–23 Miami Heat had the best performance by any play-in team in the playoffs after reaching the 2023 NBA Finals.
Jayson Tatum set the record for most points in a single play-in tournament game by scoring 50 points against Washington on May 18, 2021.[6]
Since the inception of the 7–10 seed Page–McIntyre play-in format in 2021, the 10th seed has never been able to make it out of the play–in and into the playoffs.[7]
The below table shows teams' results per their conference position entering the play-in tournament, since the NBA adopted the current format in 2021.
| Regular season position | Record by game | Resulting playoff seed | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in game | No. 8 seed game | 7th seed | 8th seed | Did not advance | ||
| 7 | 6–2 | 2–0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2–6 | 3–3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| 9 | 6–2 | 3–3 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 3 | 5 | |
| 10 | 2–6 | 0–2 | 0 | 8 | ||
In 2020, ABC aired the only play-in game.[8]
In 2021, the tournament rights were split between TNT and ESPN, with TNT airing all Eastern Conference games, and ESPN all Western Conference games, coinciding with which conference finals each network was airing that year. In 2022 and 2023, TNT aired both 7–8 games, and ESPN aired both 9–10 games, but the rights for the final seed game was still determined by which conference finals each network was airing.[9] [10]
In 2024, there was a to return to the 2021 format due to a schedule conflict at a home team’s arena. ESPN aired all Eastern Conference games, and TNT all Western Conference games. Sister networks ESPN2 and TruTV, respectively, also began to have simulcasts/alternative broadcasts of selected games.[11]
In Canada, the home market of the Toronto Raptors, coverage is split approximately equally between the Sportsnet and TSN. Under their rights, the two broadcasters are allowed to produce their own feeds of Raptors games, otherwise they generally simulcast the U.S. broadcaster's feed.