NBA Play-In Tournament 2026 Schedule, Dates and Start Times

The 2025-26 season is at its end, and it’s time to turn our attention to the playoffs. The NBA’s play-in tournament will be up first, as eight teams fight for the final four spots in the postseason.

The tournament will tip off on Tuesday, April 14, and conclude on Friday, April 17, with two teams from each conference advancing to join the full playoff field.

The Phoenix Suns are locked into the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, while the Golden State Warriors will be the No. 10 seed. The Clippers and Trail Blazers have both locked up spots in the tournament, but have yet to be slotted in.

In the Eastern Conference, the Heat and Hornets have clinched spots in the play-in tournament, but four teams are fighting for positioning from the fifth-seed down as we head into the final games of the regular season on Sunday.

Here’s a look at the schedule for the entire play-in tournament.

Full NBA Play-In Tournament schedule

Tuesday, April 14

East: No. 7 seed* vs. No. 8 seed*, 7:30 p.m. ET

*The Hawks, 76ers, Raptors and Magic are still battling for the No. 6 seed in the East.

West: Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Clippers/Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET

The winners will advance to the playoffs as the No. 7 seeds and will face the No. 2 seeds in their respective conferences.

Wednesday, April 15

East: Charlotte Hornets vs. Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m. ET*

*Home team not set yet as Hornets and Heat battle for No. 9 seed

West: Los Angeles Clippers/Portland Trail Blazers vs. Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m. ET

The losers of each game are eliminated, while the winners advance to face the losers of the previous night’s games.

Friday, April 17

East: Loser of opening game vs. winner of second game, 7:30 p.m. ET

West: Loser of opening game vs. winner of second game, 10 p.m. ET

Winners advance to the playoffs as No. 8 seeds in their respective conferences and will face No. 1 seeds. Losers are eliminated.

How to watch NBA Play-In tournament

This season, Prime Video has exclusive rights to NBA play-in games and will air all six contests.

Prime Video secured an 11-year deal with the NBA last July and gained exclusive rights to 66 regular-season games, the NBA Cup knockout rounds, the entire play-in tournament and early-round playoff games. The deal cost Amazon $19.8 billion.

Ian Eagle, Stan Van Gundy and Cassidy Hubbarth are Prime Video’s No. 1 team, while Kevin Harland, Brent Barry and Allie Clifton are the No. 2 broadcast trio.

Play-In Tournament team history

The current format for the play-in tournament was adopted in 2021, and every seven-seed has reached the playoffs. They are 8-2 in the opening round and 2-0 in the game for the No. 8 seed.

Teams with the eight seed are 2-8 in the opening game and 4-4 in the No. 8 seed game. Six of the 10 eight-seed teams have advanced, while four have fallen out of the picture.

Nine seeds have mixed success. They’ve gone 6-4 in the first round, then 3-3 in the second. So three have advanced to the full bracket, while seven have missed it.

Finally, you don’t want to be in the 10th spot. Those teams are 4-6 in the opening game, and 1-3 in the final game. Nine of the 10 seeds have missed the playoffs, while only one, the Heat in 2025, has advanced.

Only one play-in team has reached the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat accomplished the feat in 2023. They lost to the Nuggets in five games.