Games begin April 15 to determine the final 16 teams to play in the NBA playoffs.
An exciting week is ahead for NBA fans. The six NBA play-in games begin on Tuesday, April 15 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 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, April 15
- 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 April 18 vs. the 9/10 winner.
Wednesday, April 16
- 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, April 18
- The times and locations will be announced after April 15’s and April 16’s games. The winners will take the 8th seed and face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West.
