Explaining NBA Playoffs 2026 Play-in Format, Bracket Seedings and More

The 16-team NBA postseason bracket will be completed over the next four days through the play-in tournament.

Four teams in each conference face off against each other to fill in the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the bracket.

The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics in the East and the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the West await the play-in tournament victors in the first round.

Play-In Format

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The seventh-best team in each conference faces off against the eighth-best team for the right to be the No. 7 seed in the postseason bracket.

The Phoenix Suns play the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday for the right to be the West's No. 7 seed and face the Spurs.

The Philadelphia 76ers host the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. The winner of that game is locked into a first-round series with the Boston Celtics.

The losers of those games play again Friday versus the winners of the No. 9-versus-No. 10 contests.

The Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat do battle in the East elimination game on Tuesday. The LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors square off on Tuesday.

The No. 7-No. 8 loser and the No. 9-No. 10 winner play Friday at the home arena of the No. 7-No. 8 loser. The winners of those games set up first-round clashes with Oklahoma City and Detroit.

Eastern Conference Play-In Preview

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No. 10 Miami at No. 9 Charlotte (Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

No. 8 Orlando at No. 7 Philadelphia (Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

Philadelphia resides in the ideal position to get into the postseason after a switch in the standings on Sunday.

The Sixers benefited from the Magic's loss to the Celtics to finish seventh in the East and have the right to host any play-in games they participate in.

Orlando's frailty in a must-win game against Boston's backups is a concern not just for Wednesday, but for any postseason matchup it plays in.

The Magic went 2-1 against the Sixers, and they won't have to face Joel Embiid.

However, the Sixers still have a dynamic trio of scorers in Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and VJ Edgecombe who should be able to finish off a victory at home.

Miami comes into Tuesday as the lower seed against Charlotte, but the Heat have the most play-in experience of any East franchise and they won the regular-season series over the Hornets.

Miami scored over 125 points in each of its three victories over Charlotte. It's going to need Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro to play well against a Hornets lineup with a ton of scorers.

The Hornets lack postseason experience, but they can score with anyone because of LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.

Each team scored over 105 points in all four meetings, so we are at least assured of a higher-scoring game in Charlotte on Tuesday.

Western Conference Play-In Preview

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No. 8 Portland at No. 7 Phoenix (Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

No. 10 Golden State at No. 9 LA Clippers (Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET, Prime Video)

The Stephen Curry-versus-Kawhi Leonard showdown on Wednesday is the marquee matchup of the play-in round.

The Warriors haven't been the same since Jimmy Butler went down with his season-ending injury. They still have a shot to win on Wednesday, but they don't seem poised to make a miraculous run into the postseason.

Curry needs some scoring help. As has been the case over the last few years, the Warriors need one or two of their younger players to step up in a supporting role.

The Clippers were five games better than the Warriors in the regular season and they went 3-1 against Steve Kerr's team.

LA has more scoring threats across its roster. Look for Bennedict Mathurin to potentially have a huge impact on the play-in round. He averaged 17.6 points per game this season and carries experience from Indiana's run to the NBA Finals last season.

Phoenix is expected to cruise past Portland on Tuesday. The Suns scored over 125 points in both of their wins over the Blazers this season.

With Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks, the Suns have plenty of veteran experience that should help them handle a young Blazers squad.

Deni Avdija and Co. are capable of pulling off an upset, but they need to do a much better job defensively against Booker and others than they did in the two regular-season losses to the Suns.