The 2026 NBA Playoffs are set to begin on Tuesday with the Play-In tournament, which in the past I have called silly, and the reason why the 2025-26 NBA regular season was anticlimactic and completely disinteresting down the stretch. Now we finally know the 12 teams that have advanced directly to the playoffs, and the eight teams in the play-in tournament.
In the Eastern Conference, we know the New York Knicks will face the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers will play the Toronto Raptors. In the Western Conference, we know the Denver Nuggets will face the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers will face the Houston Rockets. Four additional teams (Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs) will await the winners of the play-in tournament which will conclude on Friday.
The four teams in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament are the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. Philadelphia and Orlando will play in the 7-8 game on Wednesday. The game needed to be moved to Wednesday because the Philadelphia Flyers are hosting the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday and the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday to complete their 2026 NHL schedule. Meanwhile, the Hornets and Heat will play the 9-10 game on Tuesday.
The four teams in the Western Conference play-in tournament are the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns and Trail Blazers will play the 7-8 game on Tuesday, and the Warriors and Clippers will play the 9-10 game on Wednesday. The winners of the 7-8 games go to the postseason and get the seventh seed, while the losers of the 7-8 games, will play the winner of the 9-10 games to determine the eighth seed in each conference.
