Last year, as teams finished out the 2019-20 NBA season in the “bubble” in Orlando, a new format emerged for the playoffs. In each conference, the seventh through tenth place teams at the end of the regular season took part in a “play-in” tournament. The seventh-place team and the eighth-place team met in a one-game playoff for the seventh seed in the playoffs. The loser of that game met the winner of the ninth and tenth seeds’ matchup for the eighth seed. The format proved popular (and kept several more teams in each conference from tanking down the stretch), and so the league retained it for this season.
Let’s take a look at how it works, and which teams are most likely to end up inside it, and how this might impact your NBA betting.
NBA News: Play-In Tournament Rundown
Let’s start with a look at the standings, focusing on the teams that could end up in the play-in tournament.
Western Conference
| Place | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Dallas | 37 | 28 | 10 ½ |
| 6 | L.A. Lakers | 37 | 28 | 10 ½ |
| 7 | Portland | 37 | 29 | 11 |
| 8 | Memphis | 33 | 32 | 14 ½ |
| 9 | Golden State | 33 | 33 | 15 |
| 10 | San Antonio | 31 | 34 | 16 ½ |
| 11 | New Orleans | 30 | 36 | 18 |
| 12 | Sacramento | 29 | 37 | 19 |
The Sacramento Kings aren’t letting go of their dream of making it into the play-in tournament, winners of four in a row and seven of their last ten. The San Antonio Spurs have lost five in a row, an unusual trend for a Greg Popovich-coached team at this time of year, and they could end up on the outside looking in. Memphis and Golden State keep swapping the eighth and ninth spots, night in and night out, as both teams are looking for some consistency. Sacramento has a perfect 3-0 record against Dallas this season, which could make things interesting if the Mavericks slide into the tournament and the Kings can make it at the last minute. These teams all have between six and seven games remaining in the regular season. Dallas has the easiest slate the rest of the way, with two games against Cleveland and a finale against Minnesota, but their next matchup pits them against the Brooklyn Nets, a team that definitely needs some wins to have a chance to win the East and will be looking to avenge their loss to Dallas when the Mavericks played them up in New York.
Eastern Conference
| Place | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | New York | 37 | 29 | 8 |
| 5 | Atlanta | 37 | 30 | 8 ½ |
| 6 | Boston | 35 | 31 | 10 |
| 7 | Miami | 35 | 31 | 10 |
| 8 | Charlotte | 32 | 33 | 12 ½ |
| 9 | Indiana | 30 | 35 | 14 ½ |
| 10 | Washington | 30 | 36 | 15 |
| 11 | Toronto | 27 | 39 | 18 |
| 12 | Chicago | 26 | 39 | 18 ½ |
The Knicks continue their furious run toward the postseason, as Julius Randle is having a monster season. An interesting thing about each team between #4 and #10 in the standings is that each team has a handful of elite offensive players, but only two of them (New York and Miami) have held opponents under 110.9 points per game this season. That’s a lot of offense to have to generate, night after night, and in the playoffs, the ability to get stops at crucial times is a necessity to advance. Which team will generate that hunger? A team like the Knicks, who have shown an ability to play that kind of ball at times this season, should do well. In the play-in group, it was disappointing to see Miami take a nine-point lead after one quarter against Dallas at home on Tuesday but then fall apart the rest of the way. Jimmy Butler did not play for Miami in the game, but the Heat could not stop Tim Hardaway Jr, who put up 36 for Dallas in the win. The Wizards got another triple-double out of Russell Westbrook as well as 42 points from Bradley Beal but lost Wednesday night. It’s a shame that a lack of defense has a chance to keep those two elite scorers out of the playoffs.
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