NBA play-in 2025: Magic-Hawks & Warriors-Grizzlies battle for playoff spots

The NBA play-offs, the climax of North America’s National Basketball Association season, get underway. The NBA play-offs begin, with the Oklahoma City Thunder, showcasing record-breaking points guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Cleveland Cavaliers heading this year’s conference seeds. The Milwaukee Bucks beat Oklahoma to win the 2024 NBA Cup title in December.

The NBA play-offs begin with a “Play-in Tournament” as a final chance for teams seeded from 7th to 10th in both the Eastern and Western conferences to battle for the four remaining play-off places. The top seeded teams will have two opportunities to qualify for the play-offs, while the lowest seeds will have to win twice.

The eight teams in each conference contest the best-of-seven play-off series, before the Eastern and Western champions clash in the NBA Finals to decide the 2025 NBA Championship winner.

The fifth full season of the NBA's play-in tournament begins on April 15. The Orlando Magic will host the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference, while the Golden State Warriors will host the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference. The winners of these matchups will advance to the playoffs, with the Magic-Hawks winner earning the opportunity to face the Boston Celtics, and the Warriors-Grizzlies winner set to play against the Houston Rockets.

For the teams that lose on Tuesday, there is still hope. The loser of the Magic-Hawks matchup will host either Chicago or Miami on Friday in an elimination game to determine who advances to face Cleveland in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the loser of the Warriors-Grizzlies game will host either Sacramento or Dallas to decide who will face Oklahoma City in the Western Conference.

The Chicago-Miami and Sacramento-Dallas games are Wednesday of which the losers will be eliminated.

Out of the eight teams in this year's play-in tournament, six have been there before. Atlanta has a record of 3-1 in past play-in games, while Memphis is 2-1 record. Both Chicago and Miami are both 2-2, Sacramento is 1-1 and Golden State is 0-3. Making their debut in this years play-in tournament is the Dallas Mavericks  and Orlando Magic.