With the unanimous approval of the Board of Governors, the NBA will have a Play-In Tournament for the second consecutive season.
Slightly different in format to the one implemented in the Orlando bubble, the Play-In Tournament for the upcoming season will be played in a four-day period between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.
Here's all you need to know about the new, slightly altered 2020-21 Play-In Tournament.
Schedule
May 18-21, 2021 (local time, ET)
Number of teams
Four in each conference (two in 2019-20 restart bubble)
Seeds participating
Seeds 7-10 in each conference (seeds 8-9 in 2019-20 restart bubble)
Number of games
Three in each conference (best of two series in 2019-20 restart bubble)
Format
Unlike the Play-In Tournament in the Orlando bubble, the 2020-21 edition will include four teams - seeds 7-10 in each conference.
However, the format is very much the same. The top two teams - seeds 7-8 - must win one game in two tries to make the postseason, while the lower two seeds (9-10) must win two consecutive games to make the playoffs.
First, the seventh and eighth-seeded teams will face-off, and the winner of that “Seven-Eight Game” will be the seventh seed in their respective conference.
Following that, the ninth and tenth-seeded teams will play each other in a “Nine-Ten Game." The loser of that gets eliminated while the winner progresses to face-off against the loser of the “Seven-Eight Game” Play-In Game.
The winner of that "Play-In Game" will be the eighth seed in their respective conference.
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