How does NBA Play-In Tournament work? Format, schedule and history.
Although the NBA Play-In Tournament has been a fixture for several seasons, the rules and format may still be confusing to some fans.The play-in, essentially, is like the playoffs before the playoffs, the NBA's version of the First Four in the NCAA Tournament.
In an attempt to expand the field of teams eligible for the NBA playoffs, the Play-In Tournament was launched before the 2021 postseason and has injected some competition and excitement to the bottom quarter of the respective brackets in the Eastern and Western conferences.
The tournament involves the teams ranked seventh through 10th in each conference. The games will determine the seventh and eighth seeds, the final two playoff teams in each conference bracket.
Any stats recorded during play-in games do not count toward a player or team's regular season or postseason records. In simplest terms, the Play-In Tournament is considered a separate event in between the regular season and playoffs.
The tournament is divided into two rounds:
Round 1
- Game 1: No. 7 seed vs. No. 8 seed
- Game 2: No. 9 seed vs. No. 10 seed
Round 2
- Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 winner
The tournament runs from Tuesday, April 15 through Friday, April 18. Round 1 games are scheduled on April 15 and 16 with Round 2 games in each conference set for April 18. The NBA playoffs begin a day later.
Thunder, Celtics favorites to win NBA title; public likes Lakers.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and reigning champion Boston Celtics are the consensus favorites to win this season's title, showing +180 and +190 odds, respectively, at ESPN BET as the NBA postseason is set to begin.However, the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably the league's buzziest team since their stunning trade for Luka Doncic in February, lurk just below and are easily the betting public's favorite squad.
The Lakers are +1300 to win the 2025 NBA Finals and fourth on ESPN BET's odds board, but they have attracted a leading 16.7% of bets and 19.5% of handle at the sportsbook. Other sportsbooks report similar metrics, with FanDuel reporting a whopping 27% of money backing LeBron James and company, while BetMGM names them as its second largest liability.
In terms of liability, it's the Lakers and then everyone else," ESPN BET director of North American sports trading Adrian Horton said over email. "They were attracting interest over the first half of the season, but it's really kicked into high gear since the Luka trade. As the team continues to perform and the betting public continues to back them, we'll be pulling against the Lakers in just about every playoff scenario."
The book further reports that L.A. has taken a leading 23.9% of bets and 27.6% of handle since acquiring Doncic on Feb. 1.
The Celtics, the favorites to begin the 2024-25 campaign after going wire-to-wire as favorites last season, are still garnering their fair share of action, with DraftKings reporting more wagers (34%) and handle (24%) backing them than anyone else.
Oklahoma City, who locked up the NBA's best record during the regular season, were second fiddle to Boston in the odds all season before narrowly pulling ahead on the eve of the playoffs. Action is mixed on the Thunder across the sportsbook marketplace.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will enter the postseason with the third-best odds to win it all, showing +575 at ESPN. Despite ending the regular season with the Eastern Conference's best record, the Cavs couldn't overtake the Celts for favorite status because they began the campaign with such low expectations, entering the season at +4000 to win it all. That said, Cleveland is a top-three team to capture the title by bet-share at most sportsbooks.
Other big movers from the beginning of the season include the Houston Rockets (100-1 to 80-1), the West's No. 2 seed, and the Detroit Pistons (1,000-1 to 250-1), who are BetMGM's third largest liability.
Two other recent champions, the Golden State Warriors (+1500) and the Denver Nuggets (+3000) are also in the running, ranking fifth and sixth on ESPN BET's odds board, respectively, and they are also among the top bet and handle attractors across the sportsbook marketplace.
Bucks' Damian Lillard to miss start of NBA playoffs, sources say.
Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard will miss the start of the NBA playoffs because of a blood clot in his right calf, sources told ESPN.The Bucks play Game 1 of their first-round series Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.
Doctors examining Lillard, who has been sidelined since March 18, believe the veteran guard is making significant progress with the blood clot shrinking in the calf, sources said. Lillard has yet to be cleared to resume full basketball activities.
The Bucks announced Tuesday that Lillard had made "significant improvement on his deep vein thrombosis" and that the nine-time All-Star will increase his on-court activity. The team did not offer a clear timetable for Lillard's return.
"Damian's most recent weekly scan shows that his injury has significantly improved which will enable him to move ahead safely with increased basketball activity," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. "Damian's health remains our No. 1 priority. We have followed strict protocols and will continue to do so. We are pleased with the positive news about Damian's progress."
The Bucks announced last month that Lillard, 34, would be sidelined indefinitely. The team said at the time that Lillard had been using a blood-thinning medication to stabilize the clot, with Horst adding that the Bucks would "support him as he moves through this weekly process of strict criteria to ensure that it is safe for him to return to play."
Bucks coach Doc Rivers said earlier this month that he was optimistic Lillard would return at some point, but acknowledged that the team also was prepared for the nine-time All-Star to miss the rest of the season.
"There's no guarantee we are going to have him," Rivers said on April 3. "We get him back, we know how to play. But we don't know how to play in the long term without him. ... So we got work to do."
Lillard was averaging 24.9 points and 7.1 assists before being sidelined for Milwaukee's final 14 games of the regular season. The Bucks went 10-4 in those contests and ended the season on an eight-game winning streak.
