The don’t even officially start until Saturday, but already in this postseason the following things have occurred:
鈥� Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball grabbed at Miami’s Bam Adebayo’s foot, Adebayo fell and was knocked out of the game with a back injury, Ball got in overtime, and then appeared to in the head during the postgame celebration.
鈥� Portland became the third team in play-in tournament history to down in the fourth quarter to win a game.
鈥� There was the second one-point game in play-in history (Miami has now lost both of those, both on the road).
鈥� Tuesday marked the second day in play-in history where two games were decided by four points or less.
And that was just Day 1 of the postseason.
The Trail Blazers won in Phoenix to secure the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and a first-round matchup with and the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs. Charlotte beat Miami to end the Heat’s season and send the Hornets into an elimination game on Friday night against either Orlando or Philadelphia.
The Magic visit the 76ers on Wednesday to decide the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, followed by a West elimination game between Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The play-in ends Friday with two games to decide which teams will take on the No. 1 seeds 鈥� Oklahoma City in the West, Detroit in the East. The Warriors-Clippers winner will visit Phoenix to decide which team plays the Thunder, and the Hornets will be at the loser of Wednesday’s Orlando-Philadelphia game to decide which team plays the Pistons.
Stories of note
鈥�
鈥�
鈥�
鈥�
鈥�
鈥�
鈥�
鈥� …
鈥�
Wednesday’s schedule
7:30 p.m. EDT 鈥� Orlando at Philadelphia (Prime Video)
10 p.m. EDT 鈥� Golden State at LA Clippers (Prime Video)
Friday’s schedule
7:30 p.m. EDT 鈥� Charlotte at Orlando-Philadelphia loser (Prime Video)
10 p.m. EDT 鈥� Golden State-LA Clippers winner at Phoenix (Prime Video)
Saturday’s schedule
1 p.m. EDT 鈥� Game 1, Toronto at Cleveland (Prime Video)
3:30 p.m. EDT 鈥� Game 1, Minnesota at Denver (Prime Video)
6 p.m. 鈥� Game 1, Atlanta at New York (Prime Video)
8:30 p.m. 鈥� Game 1, Houston at LA Lakers (ABC)
Sunday鈥檚 games
1 p.m. EDT 鈥� Game 1, Orlando-Philadelphia winner at Boston (ABC)
3:30 p.m. EDT 鈥� Game 1, TBD at Oklahoma City (ABC)
6:30 p.m. EDT 鈥� Game 1, TBD at Detroit (NBC/Peacock)
9 p.m. EDT 鈥� Game 1, Portland at San Antonio (NBC/Peacock)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+125) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+450), Boston (+550), Denver (+1000), Cleveland (+1600) and New York (+2000).
Detroit, the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2000.
The Los Angeles Lakers were +2500 before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt; they鈥檙e +25000 now.
Key dates
鈥� Wednesday and Friday: NBA play-in tournament.
鈥� Saturday and Sunday: NBA playoff series openers.
鈥� May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.
鈥� May 10: NBA draft lottery.
鈥� May 10-17: NBA draft combine.
鈥� May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
鈥� May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
鈥� June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
鈥� June 23: Round 1, NBA draft
鈥� June 24: Round 2, NBA draft
Numbers watch
鈥� There has now been at least one game decided by five points or fewer in each of the first seven play-in tournaments. In 33 total play-in games entering Wednesday, 13 have seen a team win by no more than five points.
Stats of the day
鈥� Miami’s Tyler Herro (178 points) has now passed Washington’s Trae Young (166) as the all-time play-in tournament scoring leader. Golden State’s Stephen Curry (33.8 per game) is the play-in scoring leader per game, among those with more than one game played in the tournament’s history.
鈥� Home teams are now 21-11 in the play-in tournament, not counting Portland鈥檚 鈥渉ome鈥� win over Memphis in the bubble in 2020.
___
AP NBA:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
