At the end of the 2020-21 NBA regular season, but prior to the first round of the postseason, the NBA will be conducting a play-in tournament. The tournament will be used to determine the final two playoff spots.
The tournament, which features four teams in each conference, was implemented to minimize tanking during the final weeks of the regular season.
As Sports Illustrated‘s Howard Beck recently noted, 24 teams were still competing with about a dozen games left on the schedule.
“That isn’t just dramatic by recent NBA standards. It’s downright revolutionary,” Beck wrote.
“Twenty-four is the highest we’ve ever had, in the history of the league, with a month left,” Evan Wasch, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball strategy and analytics, told SI.
With the play-in tournament set to begin on May 18, here’s everything you need to know:
When is the play-in tournament?
The play-in tournament will begin Tuesday, May 18 and conclude Friday, May 21.
What is the format?
The team with the seventh-highest winning percentage in each conference will host one game against the team with the eighth-highest winning percentage, with the winner in each conference earning the No. 7 seed.
In another game, the team with the ninth-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the tenth-highest winning percentage. While the loser of that game will be eliminated from postseason contention, the winner of the No. 9 vs. 10 game will play the loser of the No. 7 vs. 8 game.
The winner of that last game—between the 7/8 loser and the 9/10 winner—in each conference will earn the No. 8 seed.
Which teams could make the play-in tournament?
As of Friday evening, three teams in the Eastern Conference—the Celtics, Hornets and Pacers—are locked into the play-in tournament field. The Wizards are also currently in the play-in tournament field, but could drop out if they lose their remaining two games and the Bulls win their remaining two games. Seeding among the three teams in the field, however, will likely change in the final days of the regular season.
In the Western Conference, three teams—the Warriors, Grizzlies and Spurs—are locked into the play-in tournament field. The Warriors and Grizzlies will play on Sunday to determine who will be the No. 8 seed and who will be the No. 9 seed. San Antonio is locked into the No. 10 spot.
The Lakers are also currently in the play-in tournament draw. If they win both of their remaining two games and the Blazers lose their regular-season finale to the Nuggets, Los Angeles will be the No. 6 seed in the West, while Portland will drop to No. 7 and into the play-in tournament. If Los Angeles loses one of its final two games or if Portland defeats Denver, the Lakers will enter the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed.
How has news of tournament been received?
Following a Lakers loss in early May to the Raptors, LeBron James criticized the league’s new play-in tournament format.
“Whoever came up with that s— needs to be fired,” James said.
The loss dropped the Lakers into a three-way tie with the Mavericks and Blazers for the No. 6 seed. It marked the team’s sixth loss in seven games.
James was not alone in voicing his recent criticism over the new format. In mid-April, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called the addition of the play-in tournament an “enormous mistake.” At the time of Cuban’s comments Dallas was in the play-in tournament field.
The NBA board of governors, which includes Cuban, had unanimously approved the implementation of the play-in tournament this offseason.
James himself has also expressed varying sentiments about a possible format change. Ahead of the NBA bubble last summer, James floated the idea of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference being decided through a short series. Previously in 2018, though, James called the idea “wack.”
When do the playoffs start?
The NBA postseason officially gets underway on May 22.
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