NBA play-in tournament: How to watch and everything to know
NBA play-in tournament: How to watch and everything to know
Golden State Warriors will face the Memphis Grizzlies for a spot in the Play-Offs. - Brandon Dill/AP
A thrilling finale to the NBA regular season shook up the play-in tournament places in the Western Conference, while there will be some familiar faces taking part in the East.
The play-in has already provided many memorable moments and there are yet more enticing match-ups in 2025.
How to watch
Tuesday's games will be shown on TNT Sports – which shares parent company Warner Bros. Discovery with CNN – and Wednesday's games on ESPN. TNT will then show the Eastern Conference Play-In game for the No. 8 seed and ESPN will air the West's.
Advertisement
All of the games can also be streamed on the NBA's League Pass.
What is the play-in tournament?
The play-in tournament has been around since the Covid-era NBA bubble at Disney World, Orlando in 2020 and was adopted fully by the league in 2022.
It was brought in to try and provide a more competitive end to the long regular season, giving an extra two teams – placed ninth and 10th – in each conference the chance to make the eight-team playoffs.
The No. 7 seed hosts the No. 8 seed in a single-elimination game, with the winner clinching seventh and a best-of-seven first-round series against the No. 2 seed.
Advertisement
The No. 9 seed then hosts the No. 10 seed, with the loser eliminated and the winner going on to face the loser of No. 7 vs. No. 8 to decide who clinches the eighth seed.
No. 7 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies
Tuomas Lisalo (left) was brought in to replace Taylor Jenkins as Memphis Grizzlies head coach. - Marta Lavandier/AP
Starting in the Western Conference, an overtime classic between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers decided the fate of both teams on the final day.
The Clippers earned a 124-119 win – the team's eighth straight to end the season – in San Francisco to clinch the No. 5 seed and relegate Golden State to a play-in spot to face the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors are 3-1 over the Grizzlies this season and have been one of the NBA's hottest teams since acquiring Jimmy Butler in a trade from the Miami Heat at the start of February.
Advertisement
The move has also helped elevate both Steph Curry and Draymond Green, with the latter now the leading candidate to win Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.
Add in some helpful role players and the presence of 'Playoff Jimmy,' who helped carry the Heat to two NBA Finals, and the Warriors will feel they can be a threat this postseason.
The Grizzlies' season was turned upside down when head coach Taylor Jenkins was fired on March 28, just nine games before the postseason.
The timing of the decision was shocking, but the Grizzlies were at the time on a run of winning just six out of 16 games. Interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo then lost his first three games in charge, before the team began to show signs of improvement, and it finished 4-2 over the last six games.
Advertisement
Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant ended the season strongly, but he will need plenty of support from running mates Jaren Jackson Jr and Desmond Bane if Memphis is to go on a deep run.
This roster is certainly still inexperienced when it comes to the postseason and, after a tumultuous end to the regular season, the odds are stacked against the Grizzlies.
No. 9 Sacramento Kings vs. No. 10 Dallas Mavericks
Anthony Davis was sent to the Mavericks in the Luka Doncic trade. - Mark J. Terrill/AP
Only two seasons have passed since the Sacramento Kings reached the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in 2023, but it must already feel like a lifetime ago for fans.
The Kings dropped to the No. 9 seed last season and find themselves there again now, only this time with a much-changed roster.
Advertisement
The Kings brought in DeMar DeRozan in 2024 free agency, but then traded away franchise star De'Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in February this year as Sacramento's season began to implode.
The addition of Zach LaVine, acquired in the Fox trade, did little to change the team's fortunes as the Kings limped to the No. 9 seed with a losing record.
Beyond this postseason, for which there is already little hope of making any sort of run, the Kings will have some tough decisions to make about the future direction of the franchise.
But, chin up, Sacramento fans. It could always be worse.
This season, Dallas Mavericks fans endured one of the bleakest stretches for any fanbase in modern sports history.
Advertisement
After reaching the 2024 NBA Finals, losing 4-1 to the Boston Celtics, optimism was high in Dallas coming into the season.
The team had shown it wasn't far away from winning it all and, in Luka Dončić, the team boasted a generational talent entering his prime, plus the supremely gifted Kyrie Irving as his No. 2.
On February 2, everything changed.
In the midst of a difficult but by no means unsalvageable season, it was announced that the Mavericks would be trading Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the most stunning trades in NBA history.
Anthony Davis, the main piece the Mavericks got in return for Dončić, got injured on his Dallas debut, before Irving went down with a season-ending ACL injury.
Advertisement
Davis managed to return to action before the end of the regular season, but it would be a tall ask for him to lead an injury-depleted Mavs roster on a postseason run.
No. 7 Orlando Magic vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) shoots from the outside over Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22). - Dale Zanine/Imagn Images/USA Today Sports/Reuters
Orlando Magic fans will likely be left with an overwhelming feeling of what might have been for the 2024-25 season.
It began with so much promise for this talented young core, which found itself as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference after the opening couple of months of the season.
However, then the injury bug hit.
Orlando was without star Paulo Banchero for 34 games this season, while Franz Wagner also missed an extended period. Guard Jalen Suggs also played just 31 games before undergoing season-ending knee surgery.
Advertisement
While the team and the fanbase will no doubt be excited about next season already, this postseason could provide the young team – in particular key men Banchero and Wagner – with invaluable playoff experience, even if going on a run this season is a long shot.
It was shaping up to be an exciting season for a young Atlanta team, but the season-ending shoulder injury to Jalen Johnson in January was a real hammer blow to the Hawks' chances this year.
In addition to Johnson's promise, Dyson Daniels took a leap forward this season after being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans in the trade that sent Dejounte Murray the other way in the offseason.
Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, is also looking like a valuable piece already, while star guard Trae Young is as wonderful on offense as ever.
Advertisement
It seems unlikely the Hawks will have enough this season to challenge the top seeds if they make the playoffs, but the future looks promising for this young core.
No. 9 Chicago Bulls vs. No. 10 Miami Heat
Can Tyler Herro lead Miami to the playoffs? - Nam Y. Huh/AP
The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are familiar faces now in the play-in.
Appearing in the play-in tournament for the third straight season, the Bulls look vastly different now than they did to start the campaign.
Star man Zach LaVine and highly touted defender Alex Caruso were traded away, while Lonzo Ball returned to the court this season but still struggled with injuries.
The Bulls lost in the play-in in each of the last two season, and a win this time around is perhaps as far as they can expect to go this postseason.
Advertisement
The Heat's already waning season crumbled after the team traded away Butler to Golden State.
Miami, also appearing in its third straight play-in tournament, improbably reached the NBA Finals after coming through the play-in in 2023.
Without 'Playoff Jimmy' to lead them this year, however, the Heat's chances of repeating that feat are next to zero.
While Tyler Herro has taken a leap forward in his development this season, Bam Adebayo has been underwhelming.
Fourth-quarter struggles have become a recurring theme for Miami, too, with that historic Finals run now a distant memory.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Pistons Projected to Draft 'Terrific Rebounder' to Bolster Frontcourt
Pistons Projected to Draft 'Terrific Rebounder' to Bolster Frontcourt originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Detroit Pistons are coming off an impressive season that saw them go from being the worst team in the NBA to being a playoff team. Advertisement Of course, Detroit finished with the worst record in the NBA the prior two seasons before they were able to turn things around this year and make the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They were then able to battle it out with the New York Knicks in the first round and while they were eliminated in six games, they proved that Detroit basketball is officially back. Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Now the Pistons enter the offseason looking to build around their core of Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren. Detroit only holds one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel has them selecting Chinese center Hansen Yang with the 37th overall pick. Advertisement 'Yang is a terrific rebounder. He possesses great footwork in the low post, but he will need to work on his defensive awareness and positioning before contributing in a serious manner,' Siegel wrote. 'The Detroit Pistons can take a chance on Yang in this spot since they need to add more frontcourt depth.' Siegel makes a great point about the Pistons needing to upgrade their frontcourt depth this summer and Yang could end up being a perfect fit, especially after showing out at the NBA Draft Combine. This season in China, the 7-2 center averaged 16.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 55.4 % from the field and 22.6% from three. While Yang is still developing his scoring and defensive abilities, he has a chance to be a potential steal of the draft if he continues to develop his game, especially with him being only 19 years old. Advertisement Yang would bring much-needed size to the Pistons and he would also provide them with another solid defender, which was the staple of Detroit's game this season. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hypebeast
an hour ago
- Hypebeast
Salehe Bembury 率先公開 Tyrese Haliburton 首款簽名戰靴 PUMA Hali 1
NBA 總冠軍賽的舞台已準備就緒 CANYOAN 與 Bravest Studios 攜手推出最新聯名鞋款「Rock Shoe」 >Little Tokyo Table Tennis x ASICS GEL-NIMBUS 10.1 最新聯名系列正式登場 >Converse SHAI 001 全新配色「Masi Blue」率先曝光
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Dwight Howard chooses between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James
Dwight Howard chooses between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James The hot debate these days is whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest player in NBA history. Many still give the nod to Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s and never lost in the NBA Finals. For some people, there is also a hot debate about whether James or Kobe Bryant was a better player. There are those who believe that Bryant, the late Los Angeles Lakers legend who led the franchise to five world titles, was a superior player because of his sublime scoring skills and incredible abilities in crunch time. Dwight Howard is an incredibly lucky man, as he got to play with both Bryant and James during his Hall of Fame career. During an appearance on the "Club 520" podcast, he appeared to give James the nod as the overall better player, but with one caveat — a big one. 'Everything combined, you got to give it to LeBron,' Howard said. 'Scoring-wise, I got to say I like Kobe. If it's late in the game, I'm giving the ball to Kobe. I'm not going to give the ball to LeBron late in the game. I'm going to give it to Kobe.' While one could argue James is the better scorer, especially since he's the NBA's all-time leading scorer, Bryant was definitely much more skilled in that category. He was, according to many, the superior player in crunch time, and much of his legend is based on how he regularly rose to the occasion under pressure. In fact, the late Dr. Jack Ramsay, one of the greatest coaches and teachers in basketball history, once called Bryant the greatest closer in the history of basketball. He said that Bryant would not only hit the game-winning shot, but prior to that, Bryant would hit a series of shots or make plays to bring the Lakers back from a deficit and put them in position to win. While James has hit his share of clutch shots during his 22-year career, some feel he has faltered in big moments or simply failed to deliver too often.
