NBA
Who gets home court advantage in the NBA Play-in tournament?
Since 2019-20, The NBA Play-In Tournament has been the league’s preliminary postseason deciding tournament for teams seeking playoff spots.
The first NBA play-in tournament occurred during the Covid-stricken season of 2019-2020 when the organization decided to play preliminary games as part of their plans for the “bubble” conditions. The additional games allowed more TV time and enhanced competitiveness among the teams fighting to enter the playoffs.
In 2022, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the Play-In system would continue: “The play-in tournament, I thought, was a beginning of creating renewed incentives for teams to remain competitive and be fighting for playoff position. It might be through in-season tournaments and changes in format where we can get at it”.
What is the Play-in tournament format?
After the successful experiment in November 2020, the NBA confirmed continuing the play-in tournament with a new format that included the teams that ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The NBA will determine the play-in and playoff standings and which teams have earned the highest winning percentages in each conference.
The teams are seeded using a round-robin tournament under the Page–McIntyre system in that new format. The top four play a mix of a single-elimination and double-elimination tournament to determine the winner. The 9th-place team hosts the 10th-place team in an elimination game. The 7th hosts the 8th-place team in the double-chance match, with the winner advancing as the 7th seed. The loser of this game then hosts the winner of the elimination game between the 9th and 10th place teams to determine the 8-seed.
Explanation
Here is a simplified illustration of the matches in the play-in tournament:
Eastern Conference
East 7 vs. East 8: The winner gets the No. 7 overall seed
East 9 vs. East 10: The loser is eliminated
Loser 7/8 vs. Winner 9/10: Winner gets No. 8 overall seed
Western Conference
West 7 vs. West 8: The winner gets the No. 7 overall seed
West 9 vs. West 10: The loser is eliminated
Loser 7/8 vs. Winner 9/10: Winner gets No. 8 overall seed
Like in the first three rounds of the National Basketball Association playoffs, the same case in the play-in tournament, the home-court advantage is awarded to the team that is seeded higher in the final season rankings.
Which teams could be involved in this year’s Play-In?
As things stand, the Suns would face the Lakers (7th versus 8th in The Western Conference) and the Kings would take on the Warriors (9th versus 10th). While over in the Eastern, the 76ers could meet the Heat (7th versus 8th) while there is a chance that the Bulls and the Hawks will battle it out in the other game.
However, there is still a weekend of fixtures left to play. By Sunday evening, when the regular season is completed, the picture will be clearer and the Play-In teams defined.
When is the 2024 NBA Play-In tournament?
The 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament will be played from Tuesday 16 April to Friday 19 April with the winners heading into the PlayOffs which start on Saturday 20 April and reach their conclusion in the first week of May.
The Conference semi-finals are scheduled to begin on 6-7 May although they may be brought forward to the first weekend in May (4th-5th). The Conference Finals will be played on 21-22 May - again, there is a possibility that they might be brought forward a couple of days. The NBA Final will get underway on Thursday 6 June and will be concluded by mid-month or later if the series goes to seven games.