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Kyrie Irving says fighting for play-in with Mavs wasn’t what he expected
Kyrie Irving opens up about the Mavericks’ recent struggles as they push for the playoffs.
The NBA play-in tournament adds an intriguing crease to the end of the 2022-23 regular season and the start of the postseason. Teams already had less incentive to play tanks due to the flattened lottery odds introduced in 2019. Now that the top-10 teams overall finish the regular season with at least a chance of making the playoffs, more franchises will stay in the mix longer.
Some players, like Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, were less than excited about the prospect of the play-in tournament, but we should expect some heated competition when the teams are struggling to capture the final playoff seedings in every conference, as we’ve seen every season the NBA has used this setup.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Play-In Tournament, including matchups, when and where it takes place, and how it works.
Which teams are playing?
Here’s a look at the current play-in matchup predictions as of today (until the March 29 games):
east conference
Western Conference
Here are the current play-in tournament standings for each conference.
east conference
Western Conference
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What games do I need to see?
These games could affect the play-in race in the final weeks of the season (games with multiple play-ins by adjacent teams are listed in clearly).
Thursday March 30th
Friday March 31st
Bulls at Hornets, 7 p.m. ET
Thunder at Pacers, 7 p.m. ET
Raptors at 76ers, 7 p.m. ET
Magic at Wizards, 7 p.m. ET
Jazz at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. ET
Hawks at Nets, 7:30 p.m. ET
Clippers at Grizzlies, 8 p.m. ET
Lakers at Timberwolves, 8 p.m. ET
Spurs at Warriors, 10 p.m. ET
Nuggets at Suns, 10:30 p.m. ET
Saturday April 1st
Mavericks at Heat, 7:30 p.m. ET
Clippers at Pelicans, 8:30 p.m. ET
Complete the upcoming NBA schedule
Luka Doncic is just 29,702 points behind LeBron James on the NBA’s all-time top scorers list. Jerome Miron – USA TODAY Sports
How does the NBA play-in tournament work?
As part of the play-in tournament, a total of six games will be played with eight teams, which will be divided between the two conferences.
Teams ranked 1-6 in each conference will receive guaranteed playoff spots, while teams ranked 7-10 overall will enter the play-in. Any team that finishes worse than 10th place takes part in the lottery.
How the games work:
Game 1: The No. 7 team overall will receive the No. 8 team, with the winner seeded as No. 7 in the playoffs. The losing team gets another chance in Game 3.
Game 2: Team #9 hosts Team #10, with the winner advancing to Game 3. The loser is eliminated and entered in the NBA draft lottery.
Game 3: The loser of the #7 vs. #8 matchup will host the winner of the #9 vs. #10 matchup, with the winner snagging the #8 seed in the postseason. The loser of Game 3 also takes part in the lottery.
That means the teams with the seventh-highest and eighth-highest win odds have two chances to win a game to earn a playoff spot, while the teams with the ninth-highest and tenth-highest win odds must win two straight games to advance.
How important is seeding in the play-in race?