Predicting the four teams that will qualify for the NBA Playoffs via the Play-In Tournament.
The 2023 NBA Playoffs are nearly here. The official start of the playoffs doesn’t begin for another week (specifically April 15). However, the postseason begins before with the NBA Play-In Tournament. From April 11-14, the final two seeds in both the Eastern and Western Conferences will be decided via an eight-team tournament (four teams in each conference).
The 7th and 8th seeds will square off with the winner qualifying for the NBA Playoffs as the 7th seed. The loser of that game will have one more opportunity to qualify for the playoffs as the 8th seed but will have to beat the winner of the game between the 9th and 10th seeds.
It’s a new wrinkle that the NBA introduced a couple of seasons ago and a variable that appears will remain part of the future of the league.
Here is the official schedule for the NBA Play-In Tournament:
Tuesday, April 11
- (8) Atlanta Hawks vs. (7) Miami Heat – 7:30 p.m. ET
- (8) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers – 10:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, April 12
- (10) Chicago Bulls vs. (9) Toronto Raptors – 7:00 p.m. ET
- (10) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (9) New Orleans Pelicans – 9:30 p.m. ET
After those two first slates of games, the final qualifying games will be on Friday, April 14, and will feature the loser from the 7-8 matchup vs. the winner of the 9-10 matchup. The winner will qualify as the 8th seed in their respective conference.
Let’s get to the official game predictions, beginning with the first slate of games that will take place Tuesday.