The fight for the Playoffs and Play-in positions has undoubtedly been the best of these last weeks in the NBA. In the Eastern Conference, everything was defined a long time ago, although the fight between the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets for the last direct qualification spot for the postseason was very interesting.

In the Western Conference the fight was more closed. So much so that the difference between the 12th and 5th positions were very few victories, and each game between the teams that occupied those places seemed to be a final, giving enormous interest to these last weeks of the regular season.

Why won’t be activity on Monday, April 10?

This Monday, April 10, there will be no NBA games because the regular season came to an end on Sunday, April 9. Activity will resume in the best basketball league in the world on April 11, when the Play-in tournament begins, which will end on April 14, and with which the last four teams qualified for the Playoffs will be defined.

This due to theNBA’s plans for a bubble as part of its return to play because of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the tournament only included the 8th and 9th seeded teams. While the current format includes teams from the 7th to the 10th places of their Conferences standings.

For example, in the 2021-22 NBA Season, the Brooklyn Nets faced the Cleveland Cavaliers, while the Atlanta Hawks faced the Charlotte Hornets for the Eastern Conference. As for the West, the Los Angeles Clippers faced the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the New Orleans Pelicans faced the San Antonio Spurs.

What is the Play-In Tournament in the NBA?

According the NBA website, the Play-In Tournament is structured as follows; “At the conclusion of the regular season but before the first round of the playoffs, the team with the 7th-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the 8th-highest winning percentage in a Play-In Game (the “Seven-Eight Game”). The winner of the Seven-Eight Game in each conference will earn the No. 7 seed.”

Also, “The team with the 9th-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the 10th-highest winning percentage in the “Nine-Ten Game”. The loser of the Seven-Eight Game will host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game in a Play-In Game, and the winner of that game in each conference will earn the No. 8 seed.“

Even though LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will be a notable absence, the knockout stage of the season will be a must-watch, with many teams heading into the playoffs as legit contenders.

The National Basketball Association, however, introduced a significant change to its traditional playoffs by creating the Play-In Tournament. Here, find out what’s the difference between the Play-In and the Playoffs.

NBA postseason explained: What is the Play-In Tournament?

The Play-In Tournament is part of the postseason but it precedes the first round of the playoffs. This idea was implemented for the Orlando bubblein 2020 under the strange circumstances of the pandemic-shortened season and established itself as an official part of the postseason the following campaign.

This has changed the traditional playoff system by which the first eight teams ineach conference advanced to the playoffs. The Play-In Tournament involves teams that finished from 7th to 10th in each conference, while the first six of the East and West advance directly to the playoffs.

• Qualify directly for the playoffs: 1st to 6th of each conference
• Take part in Play-In Tournament: 7th to 10th of each conference

How does the NBA Play-In Tournament work?

The Play-In Tournament consists of single-game playoff ties for a place in the playoffs, with the 7th and 8th seeds up for grabs.Once the regular season concludes, the team with the 7th highest percentage in each conference hosts the team with the 8th best record. The winner claims the 7th seed and advances to the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the 9th best record in each conference hosts the team with the 10th highest winning percentage. The winner of this game faces the loser of the 7-8 game for the 8th seed and final ticket to the playoffs.

• 7th place vs. 8th place: Winner advances to playoffs with 7th seed
• Loser 7-8 vs. Winner 9-10: Winner advances to playoffs with 8th seed

NBA Play-In Tournament Explained: Bracket

The Play-In Tournament of the 2021-22 NBA season will take place on April 12-15, while the playoffs get underway on April 16. This is what the NBA postseason bracket looks like with the Play-In:

The Play in tournament will be played between April 12 and 15, 2022, the new format consists of teams ranked 7-10 from the regular season playing against each other to dispute a place in the playoffs. Teams 7 and 8 from each conference will have to fight to defend their positions for the playoffs, they will play a round of three games.

The winner of that round mentioned above gets the 7th spot in the playoffs. The loser of that round must play the a game against the winner team of the 9th and 10th matchup of the play in tournament. The last game will be between the loser of the first round (7th-8th team) and the winner of the second round game (9th-10th team), the team that wins that game enters the playoffs as the 8th seeded team.

NBA 2021-22 playoff format: Does the Play In Tournament affect the other 6 places in the playoffs?

The first six places in the playoffs will have nothing to do with the new play in tournament, the best six from each conference have direct access to the playoffs as has been done for several seasons. The only modification that was made was for the 7th-10th seeds of the regular season.

The Playoffs will be played in the same way as before, a full bracket in the traditional way with 16 teams. All matchups will be under the best-of-seven format, the series will be played taking into account the home advantage for a team with 1, 2 and 5 at home and 7 (if needed). The other games will be on the road (3, 4, 5, 6 if needed).

The conference semifinals will be with the 8 winning teams of the first round, with the best-of-seven format the four teams that will advance to the Conference Finals will be defined to finally close the postseason with the NBA Finals.