Getty Images The 2020 NBA season is just a few days away from tipping off again after being shut down for more than four months due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will also mark a return of domestic pro basketball gambling, something sportsbooks are capitalizing on by putting a litany of betting options up on the board for fans to wager on ahead of the season restart. The play-in tournament will involve 4 teams from each conference that are seeded from 7 to 10 in the standings. The 7 and 8 seeds will play one game and the winner will secure the 7th spot in the standings. The loser of the 7th and 8th seed plays the winner of the 9th and 10th seed, the winner of this game will be the number 8th seed. The 9 and 10th seed will have to win two games in order to advance and secure the 8th seed in the conference standings.
Because every game is going to be played at a neutral venue without fans in attendance, the absence of home-court advantage will play a major role in allowing some underdogs a more realistic chance at upsetting. The long layoff also provided players a chance to recover from lingering injuries, an extended rest that will clearly benefit some clubs more than others. The Philadelphia 76ers, for instance, may have had to go without Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons if the 2020 NBA Playoffs had started on their originally scheduled date.
The organization now has both stars rested and healthy, which helped move the Sixers' odds from 30-1 to 20-1 in the process. If the No. 9 seed in each conference is more than four games behind the No. 8 seed at the conclusion of the regular season, the No. 8 seed will earn the final playoff spot. If the No. 9 seed is four games or fewer behind the No. 8 seed, then those teams will enter a play-in tournament (double-elimination for the eighth seed, single-elimination for the ninth seed). The challenging squad would be able to overthrow the No. 8 seed if it wins both contests in what is effectively a best-of-two series that the better seed needs just a single victory to end. The chances of at least one of these matchups taking place are rather good, with bookmakers indicating the Western conference is far more likely to see a play-in battle than the other.
The odds of a West play-in tourney are set at -1000, meaning a bettor would have to risk $10 to win $1 on it happening, while the East is +800—netting $8 for each $1 wagered—to require a No. 8 vs. No. 9 clash. Utah's lead in the West isn't as firm, as Phoenix is making things interesting heading into the final week of the regular season. The Jazz have a 1.5-game lead with four games remaining, two of which are against teams eliminated from playoff contention.
The Suns have five games still to play, but all of them are against teams that are likely to make at least the play-in tournament. The same playoff format will still take place that the NBA has always used. 8 teams from each conference will play in the playoffs as follows.
All series will be a best of 7 game series where a team that wins 4 games first advance to the next round. The team with the higher seed will have home-court advantage. There are 3 rounds that take place against teams in the same conference. The last team standing in each conference plays in the NBA Finals, Conference winner vs Conference winner. Remember this is a play-in tournament and not the NBA playoffs itself.
The winner will be 8th in the standings and play the number one seed Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. So as you can see the 7th or 8th seed only needs to win one game while the 9th and 10th seed need to win 2 games. The team with the better record will get a homecourt advantage. The playoff will have the top six teams from each conference advance directly, making it twelve teams with a secured spot at the postseason. The number seven and number eight seeds need to play additional games to reach the postseason via the play-in tournament, while the number nine and number ten seeds will have the opportunity to upset them in the process. The No. 9 Grizzlies finished within four games of the No. 8 Trail Blazers in the Western Conference standings, triggering a play-in tournament for the final playoff spot.
The Trail Blazers defeated the Grizzlies in the play-in game to advance to the first round of the postseason. They will enter the bracket as the No. 8 seed and face the Lakers. The 9th seed Charlotte Hornets will face the 10th seed Miami Heat. These two teams will have to win 2 games in a row to secure the 8th spot in the standings.
The winner of the 9 vs 10 seed advances but plays a second game against the loser of the 7th versus 8th seed. In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns were only the second team in the entire NBA after the Jazz to win more than 50 games as they finished 51-21, the conference's second-best record. The Los Angeles Clippers (47-25) and the Dallas Mavericks (42-30), meanwhile, will cross paths in the first round after ending the season as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, respectively. With both teams' stars out with injuries, both the Hawks and Bucks needed contributions from their other players in game 5. In addition to Lopez, 3 other Bucks starters scored at least 20 points.
While Atlanta kept the game close, aided by Bogdan Bogdanovic's 28 points, the Bucks took a 3-2 series lead, leaving them one win away from the Eastern Conference championship. The NBA Board of Governors approved a format for the 2020–21 season to have a play-in tournament involving the teams that ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The 7th place team and 8th place team participate in the double-chance game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the 7-seed.
The loser then plays the winner of elimination game between the 9th place and 10th place teams to determine the playoff's 8-seed. The NBA's regular playoff format would then proceed as normal. The teams with the seventh-best and eighth-best records in each conference will play one game, with the winner becoming the No 7 seed in the playoffs. Intriguing differences in the playoff structure hold that the teams with the seventh-best and eighth-best records in each conference will play one game, with the winner becoming the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. Philadelphia is in great position to hold on to the No. 1 seed, as it has a three-game advantage over the Brooklyn Nets with four regular-season games still to play.
The 76ers are on an eight-game winning streak, and their final two games are home matchups against the Orlando Magic, who have long been eliminated from postseason contention. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeded teams will play each other, the losing team getting a chance to play once again for a playoff spot. The ninth and tenth seed will play each other, where the losing team will be eliminated. The winner will get one more chance at the postseason, competing against the team that lost the other clash.
As per the current NBA standings, a total of seven teams have qualified for the playoffs – three in the East and four in the West. As per the new play-in tournament announced in the league, only the top six teams in each conference will have a confirmed playoff spot. The No. 7 to the No. 10 seed from each conference will be participating in the playoffs.
So we have the 7th seed, San Antonio Spurs versus the 8th seed, LA Clippers playing for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. They will only play one game and the winner secures the 7th seed and will face off against the 2nd place team in the Western Conference. Let's say the Spurs won they would secure the 7th seed and play the Nuggets in the first round.
The Clippers are not out just yet, they will play a second game to try and secure their original seed of 8th place. Playoff positioning is on the line as 22 NBA teams resume play at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. The playoff fields in each conference are largely set, but there could be some drama during the "seeding games" as teams jockey for postseason positioning.
This year the NBA has created a play-in tournament to help decide the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each conference's playoff bracket. With the top six seeds set, seeds 7-10 in the standings will play a mini tournament to determine who lands those last two spots. The upstart Atlanta Hawks find themselves with an record, which in the East is good enough for the sixth seed. Coming into the season, their goal was likely to sneak into the playoffs with the seventh or eighth spot, and 20-ish games in to the season, their goal is surely the same. The winner of the matchup between the No. 7 and No. 8 seed will qualify to the playoffs as the seventh seed, while the loser will face the winner of the game between the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds for the final postseason berth. The regular season is over and the NBA Playoffs bracket is set.
The identity of 12 of the 16 teams that will take part in the postseason is known, with the two remaining teams in each conference to be determined by a play-in tournament that begins on Tuesday. At the same time, the teams with the ninth- and 10th-best records will play a game, with the winner of that contest then meeting the loser of the "seven-eight" game for the right to become the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. Per conference, the play-in tournament will be played by Seeds 7-10. The loser plays the winner of the game between Seeds 9 and 10 for last remaining playoff spot. The play-in tournament starts two days later on Tuesday, April 12 and concludes Friday, April 15.
All first games of the 8 first round matchups will be played either April 16 or 17. In the second round or conference semifinals, the team that wins the 1-8 matchup plays the winner of the 4-5 series. The 2-7 winner faces the 3-6 and the two teams that win will play each other for the conference championship. Game 7 would go on to be an instant classic with both teams locked in for the entire game.
In the final seconds of regulation, Kevin Durant appeared to have given the Nets a 1-point lead on a fadeaway three-point shot with 1 second left. With the score tied at 109, Milwaukee had a chance to win the series, but Giannis Antetokounmpo's turnaround jumpshot missed, sending the game into overtime. The Nets held a two-point lead until the final 90 seconds of overtime where the Bucks would score on back-to-back possessions to get on the board and take a 113–111 lead with 40 seconds remaining. The Nets had possession in the last 15 seconds of the game, concluding with yet another game-tying, almost-three-point jump shot attempt by Durant; however, it was all air.
The Bucks subsequently sealed the game on two free throws by Brook Lopez , sending them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three years. This marked the first Game seven to go into overtime since 2006. It was also the Bucks' first victory on the road in a postseason game seven, having gone 0–7 in previous playoff road game seven's. Devin Booker joined Rick Barry as the only players to record at least ten 30 point games in their first postseason all time. There are 15 teams in each conference, the reason the NBA chose seeds 7 to 10 for their play-in tournament is that there are only a few games separating those positions by a few wins. The teams with the ninth and 10th-best records will play a game, with the winner of that contest then meeting the loser of the "seven-eight" game for the right to become the No 8 seed in the playoffs.
Ten teams in each conference will advance to the postseason, with teams seeded seventh through 10th participating in a play-in tournament to gain admission to the conference playoffs. The system allows the ten top teams in the Eastern and Western Conference standings to play their chances for a spot in the playoffs, making the end of the regular season more exciting. The winners of each of the conference championships then face each other in the NBA Finals. This year, the NBA Finals are scheduled to begin on June 2 to June 19, 2022. The home-court advantage in the NBA Finals goes to the team that recorded the most regular-season wins. The 2022 NBA Playoff bracket is now fully set, postseason games set to begin from Saturday, April 16 until the NBA finals game 7 on Sunday, June 19.
The Eastern Conference winner No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks win in the NBA Finals 2021 against the Western Conference winner No. 2 Phoenix Suns. The way the conference finals are shaking out, we could get our first team into the NBA Finals on Monday night with the Phoenix Suns looking to close out the Los Angeles Clippers at home up 3-1 in the West Finals. The East may take a bit but the Milwaukee Bucks could have a shot at closing out the series as soon as Thursday in Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks went up 2-1 in the series after a convincing win in Game 3 on Sunday night. We're going to be keeping track of which teams will be fighting for the Larry O'Brien Trophy in July.
The Philadelphia 76ers haven't been the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference since 2001. The Utah Jazz haven't been the top seed in the Western Conference since 1998. But if the regular season ended today, that's where both of those teams would be for the playoffs. The Brooklyn Nets needed a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to clinch the No. 2 seed afterKevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have only played eight games together all season. Harden sat out Sunday, leaving the Nets with a star duo to wrap up the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Facing elimination, the Hawks got Trae Young back to start game 6, but he still struggled with his injured foot, scoring only 14 points. After leading Atlanta by only 4 points at halftime, Khris Middleton would score the Bucks' first 16 points of the 3rd quarter to build a 19-point lead going into the 4th quarter. The victory gave the Bucks the Eastern Conference championship, their 3rd overall conference title, and their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1974. Devin Booker joined Charles Barkley and LeBron James as the only players with 40-point triple-double in a conference finals game. He also joined Oscar Robertson and Luka Dončić as the only players with a 40-point triple-double before turning 25. Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in opposite conference .
Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in own conference . The 7th seed, Orlando Magic will faceoff against the 8th seed Detroit Pistons. Orlando will have a home-court advantage as they are the higher seed with the better record.
They will play one game and the winner will take the 7th seed overall in the Eastern Conference standings. The loser of this game is not done yet and has one more opportunity to secure the 8th seed by playing the winner of the 9th and 10th seed game. The 9th seed Sacramento Kings and 10th seed LA Lakers will face each other. The winner will advance to the next round against the LA Clippers against the Spurs. Sacramento will therefore be eliminated and done for the rest of the season. The Lakers will have to win a second game against the Clippers to lock the 8th seed.
The homecourt advantage goes to the Clippers with the better record. Each of the 22 remaining teams is scheduled to play eight "seeding games" in order to determine playoff positioning in both conferences. The Lakers follow suit at 4-1 with William Hill and DraftKings and 5-1 with FanDuel, despite the fact they may not even make it to the playoffs as they have to negotiate the play-in tournament. As is the case with the Nets, the Lakers' main issue has been keeping LeBron James and Anthony Davis fit this season. However, should the Lakers' duo be fully fit for the postseason, don't rule out the defending champions' chances of winning back-to-back titles.
Ten teams in each conference will advance to the postseason, with teams seeded seventh through 10th participating in a Play-in Tournament to gain admission to the conference playoffs. The league had already tested a version of the play-in format last summer with the 2020 NBA restart in the Orlando bubble. At the time, the Portland Trail Blazers played the Memphis Grizzlies to earn a berth in the Western Conference playoffs.
When will the site have its detailed playoff schedule posted? Follow this page during the playoffs for detailed matchup information. The playoffs will start after both the regular season and the play-in tournament. The first two games are at the higher-seeded team's home court and Games 3 and 4 are at the lower-seeded team's home court. A deciding Game 7 will always be played at the home of the higher seed.
The 16 team's playoffs have followed the same format since 2016 with the top eight teams in each conference advancing to the postseason. Here's a guide that helps you to know how NBA Playoffs formate does work. The NBA regular season is coming to an end this May, and the playoffs will soon begin. This year the league will have the Play-In Tournament, significantly expanding the number of teams that could make it to the playoffs after the regular season ends to twenty. Even if either falls to the No. 2 seed, Philadelphia and Utah will still be teams to watch when the playoffs get underway. But it's always nice to have home-court advantage deep into the postseason, which is what these two teams are playing for.
