The 2021-22 regular season has come to an end and four of the eight first-round encounters have been confirmed. The other four will of course be decided by the play-in tournament, as the top two seeds in each conference (Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies in the West, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics in the East) are waiting to see who they will draw.
As a reminder of how the play-in works, #7 plays #8 and #9 plays #10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the #7, while the loser plays against the winner of the 9-10 is playing seed #8 game.
Below are our staff’s picks for the first round of play-in games, as well as the eliminator for seeded #8.
(7) Brooklyn Nets vs. (8) Cleveland Cavaliers
Date: Tuesday April 12 | Time: 7 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: TNT
(7) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (8) Los Angeles Clippers
Date: Tuesday April 12 | Time: 9:30 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: TNT
(9) Atlanta Hawks vs. (10) Charlotte Hornets
Date: Wednesday April 13 | Time: 7 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: ESPN
(9) New Orleans Pelicans vs. (10) San Antonio Spurs
Date: Wednesday April 13 | Time: 9:30 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: ESPN
#8 Seed Play-In Game (East)
Bill Rider: Falcons over cavaliers
Brad Botkins: Falcons over cavaliers
Colin Ward-Henninger: Falcons over cavaliers
James Herbert: Hornets about cavaliers
Sam Quinn: Falcons over cavaliers
Jasmine Wimbish: Falcons over cavaliers
Jack Maloney: Falcons over cavaliers
Michael Kaskey-Blomain: Cavaliers over Falcons
#8 Seed Play-in Game (West)
Bill Rider: Clippers over Spurs
Brad Botkins: Timber wolves over pelicans
Colin Ward-Henninger: Timber wolves over pelicans
James Herbert: Timber wolves over pelicans
Sam Quinn: Pelicans via Clippers
Jasmine Wimbish: Clippers over pelicans
Jack Maloney: Pelicans over Timberwolves
Michael Kaskey-Blomain: Clippers over Spurs