Definition and Purpose of the Tournament
The New Orleans Pelicans have played in the Play-In Tournament in three consecutive seasons. Credit: Erik Drost/Flickr
The NBA Play-In Tournament is a competition introduced to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference. It involves teams ranked 7th through 10th in their respective conferences.
Those four teams battle each other to see who can earn the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference. Those guaranteed playoff spots give those squads the right to participate in seven-game series against the conference's top teams.
This guide will give you an outline of how the NBA Play-In Tournament works.
Brief History of the Tournament's Introduction
The Play-In Tournament was first implemented in the 2020 NBA Bubble and the NBA governors approved the current format for the 2020-21 season.
The first edition of the NBA Play-In Tournament in 2020 was a single game in each conference. The only time that play-in game format was used the Portland Trailblazers and Orlando Magic successfully reached the playoffs.
Since then, the schedule has been expanded to include three games. You can find an explanation of the current format below.
Nick has been fascinated with sports since he was first taken to a Toronto Maple Leafs game back in 1998, and he's written about them professionally since 2014.
Nick has covered baseball and hockey for outlets like The Athletic, Sportsnet, and Yahoo Sports, and his sports betting expertise has grown since its legalization in Ontario in 2022.
Between 2022 and 2023 he worked for a betting startup called NorthStar Bets, and in 2024 he contributed to Oddspedia before joining the Responsible Gambling team.