An exciting week is ahead for NBA fans. The six NBA play-in games begin Tuesday to determine the seventh and eighth seeds of the playoffs. It’s a lot to unpack but the bracket below will make things much clearer.
Here’s how the play-in format works: The teams that finish seventh through 10th in the Western and Eastern conferences will face off in the play-in tournament this week to determine the the final seventh and eighth seeds. Those teams then slide over into the official bracket to play the one and two seeds in each conference.
Here’s the 2025 NBA playoff bracket
How to watch the 2025 NBA play-in tournament
Tuesday
Orlando Magic (7) vs. Atlanta Hawks (8): 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT. Location: Kia Center, Orlando. The winner of this game will earn the East seventh seed and play the Boston Celtics. The loser will play Friday vs. the 9/10 winner.
Golden State Warriors (7) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8): 10 p.m. ET on TNT. Location: Chase Center, San Francisco. The winner of this game will earn the West seventh seed and play the Houston Rockets. The loser will play Friday vs. the 9/10 winner.
Wednesday
Chicago Bulls (9) vs. Miami Heat (10): 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Location: United Center, Chicago. The winner of this game will play the loser between the Magic and Hawks.
Sacramento Kings (9) vs. Dallas Mavericks (10): 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento. The winner of this game will play the loser between the Warriors and Grizzlies.
Friday
The times and locations will be announced after Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games. The winners will take the 8th seed and face the Cleveland Cavilers in the East and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West.