How does the NBA play-in tournament work? Dates, projections, and rules explained.

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced on November 9, 2024, that they’ve struck a deal on rules for the 2024-25 season, which will start on December 22, 2024. On November 10th, the NBA’s Board of Governors approved the amended Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2024-25 by a unanimous vote, allowing the 2024-25 season to begin. The NBA announced the structure and format of the 2020-21 season, including a playoff Play-In Tournament on November 17th.

The play-in tournament is a recently added cherry on top of the regular NBA season. It is anticipated to be an exciting addition that will eventually determine eight teams from each conference for the playoffs. The trial run for the play-ins league was held last year, but this season will see a full tournament on the go for the first time in NBA history. As teams gear up for the intense competition, fans can expect to see bold new basketball team uniforms that reflect each squad’s identity and energy. It can be the first in a line of regular play-ins in coming seasons, or it could be the last. As of now, the Board of Governors has approved the league for the current season only. It all depends on public response and acceptance by the players and fans for the play-in tournament to continue. In any case, for this year, the Play-ins tournament is a done deal, and teams will have to prepare for the battle to win their chances for the playoffs.

The league begins on the tail of the regular season, which is scheduled to end on the 16th of May 2025. The first match of the play-in will be played on May 18, and the league is scheduled to end on May 21, immediately followed by playoff matches on May 22. 

The league plans to give six games to eight teams, split up between the two conferences. The teams finishing from 1-6 on the scoreboard of each conference will qualify directly for the playoffs after the regular season. As for teams ending up on the ranking from 7-10 will try their hands in the play-in tournament. If a team finishes below No. 10, then it will enter the lottery. Moreover, there are chances that teams might finish with an uneven number of games due to the pandemic situation. In that case, the NBA plans to use the winning ratio to determine teams’ standings.

The game board at a glance shows that in the first game, the 7th team will host the 8th team. The winner of game 1 will earn the 7th seed in the playoffs. However, the losing team will get another chance in the form of 3rd game. The second game will be played between no 9 and 10, with number 9 hosting the game. The winner will play the third game with the first game’s runner-up and the defeated team of the second game will get eliminated but will enter the NBA’s draft lottery. The winner of the third game will grab the 8th seed in the postseason, while the defeated party of the third game will also enter the lottery.

To sum up, it can be said that the teams with 7th 7th-highest and 8th-highest winning percentages will have two more opportunities to win a game to qualify for a playoff spot. The team with the 9th and 10th highest winning percentages will require two more winning games to advance in the league.

The opinions of NBA landscape members vary when it comes to play-in tournaments. Some are elated, and some are frowning upon it. For instance, Luka Doncic, the star player of the Dallas Mavericks, does not understand the idea of a play-in tournament after 72 seasonal games. He says that if a team is qualifying for play-offs by working their heads off in the 72 games and if they, for some reason, collapse in the two play-in matches, then their effort in the season games will go in vain. Mark Cuban, the owner of the same team, backs him up in his opinion. On the other hand, this tournament will provide the low-ranking teams with multiple chances till the end to get the playoff spot,s which makes the play-ins concept popular among them.