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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Dan Lyons

Furthest Playoff Runs Ever Made by NBA Play-in Teams

Jimmy Butler raises Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy after the Miami Heat upset the Boston Celtics. | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

The NBA play-in tournament gets underway on Tuesday, April 15, with a pair of No. 7 and No. 8 matchups: the Orlando Magic vs. Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference and the Golden State Warriors vs. the Memphis Grizzlies in the West. The No. 9 Chicago Bulls and No. 10 Miami Heat will face off on Wednesday, followed by the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks.

The NBA first visited the play-in concept at the 2020 bubble in Orlando. It expanded the format the following year, creating the tournament that decides the final two seeds in each conference that exists today. The winner of the No. 7 vs. 8 games reach the playoff as the No. 7 seed, while the losers take on the winner of the No. 9 vs. 10 games for the final seeds in the full bracket.

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