NBA play-in tournament rules, explained for 2025, with updated standings for tight races

The NBA Play-In Tournament has been used to determine the final playoff team at each conference since it was adopted by the league during the bubble. The current iteration of Play-in Tournament comes in an easy-to-understand format, putting extra pressure on the team and maximizing regular season win totals to ensure seeds.

The NBA Play-In Tournament was less than ever as consequential as this year. In the final regular season games, five Western Conference teams compete with the final three protected seeds. Two of these teams will be quarantined in the play-in tournament. The four Eastern Conference Play-In teams are already locked, but the battle for positioning will go down to the final day of the season.

Let's take a quick look at how the Play-In Tournament works, as well as a look at the teams fighting before the regular season ends on Sunday, April 13th.

• The seventh place team in the regular season rankings will host the eighth place team in the single elimination game. The winner will be number seven seed in the 2025 NBA playoffs.
• Team No. 9, which is ranked in the regular season, will host the team number 10th in the single elimination game. The loser's season is over.
• The 9-10 game winner faces a 7-8 game loser for the No. 8 seed in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

This is how it looks in the graphic format. So, during the final day of the regular season, let's dive into the teams involved in the 2025 NBA Play-in Tournament.

NBA teams don't want to participate in the play-in tournament, as the season can end in one (or two) bad nights. This is the current regular season rankings for the East and West.

NBA Western Conference rankings, play-in races, remaining games

We update these rankings every night until the end of the regular season. Last updated: April 11th PM.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were number one seed. Houston Rockets No. 2 seed ready to lock. Los Angeles Lakers He won the playoff berth. So they're avoiding play-in tournaments, but still fighting for the seed. Here's what the rest of the photos of West Play Inn look like they are now:

The remaining regular season schedule for each team involved is as follows:

3. Los Angeles Lakers: Vs. Rockets, @Trail Blazers

4. Denver Nuggets: vs. Grizzlies, @Rockets

5. LosAngeles Clippers: @Kings, @Warriors

6. Golden State Warriors: @Trail Blazers, vs. Clippers

7. MemphisGrizzlies: @Nuggets, vs. Mavericks

8. Minnesota Timberwolves:vs. nets, vs. jazz

9. Sacramento Kings: vs. Clippers, vs. Suns

10. Dallas Mavericks: vs. Raptor, @grizzlies

NBA Eastern Conference rankings, play-in races, remaining games

We update these rankings every night until the end of the regular season. Last updated: April 11th PM.

Six protected playoff teams in the East are trapped. New York Knicks And the Indiana Pacers are still fighting for the third-place seed on the last day of the season. Here's what the rankings look like now:

The play-in team's remaining regular season schedule is as follows:

7. Orlando Magic: @Pacers, @Hawks

8. Atlanta Hawks: @ 76ersvs. Magic

9. ChicagoBulls: Vs. Wizards, @76ers

10. Miami Heat: @Pelican, vs. Wizard

Teams eliminated from the Play-In Tournament will take part in the NBA Draft Lottery. Updated NBA lottery odds can be found here.

The regular season ends on Sunday. With two games remaining for every team, there was no more pressure to ensure that the playoff seed and play-in tournament placement teams needed ahead of the postseason push.