NBA Play-In Tournament: Everything You Need to Know
What is the Play-In Tournament?
The SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament is a competition that determines the teams that will fill the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference. Teams ranked from seventh to tenth in their respective conferences participate in this tournament, with the winners advancing to the playoffs as the seventh and eighth seeds.
History of the Play-In Tournament
In November 2020, the NBA Board of Governors approved the Play-In Tournament format for the 2020-21 season. This format was implemented to increase the number of teams with a chance to reach the playoffs and create more excitement in the final weeks of the regular season.
Format of the Play-In Tournament
The Play-In Tournament involves the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth seeds in each conference:
- The seventh-place team plays the eighth-place team in a single-elimination game.
- The winner of the seventh-eighth game advances to face the second-place team in a best-of-three series.
- The ninth-place team plays the tenth-place team in a single-elimination game.
- The winner of the ninth-tenth game advances to face the winner of the seventh-eighth game in a single-elimination game.
- The winner of the final game earns the eighth seed in the playoffs.
This format ensures that teams have a chance to qualify for the playoffs even if they finish the regular season with a slightly below-average record.
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