NBA will keep play-in tournament for playoff spots next season
FILE — Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors looks at LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers after scoring the game winning three point basket against in the closing minute of the NBA Tournament Play-In game at Staples Center on May 19, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP
NBA team owners approved a proposal on Tuesday to continue the play-in tournament for the 2021-22 season, keeping the expanded competition for the last playoff spots in each conference.
The plan, agreed upon by the league and the NBA Players Association, follows the same format as the play-in event used in the 2020-21 campaign.
Teams that finish the regular season with the seventh-highest through 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference will compete for the seventh and eighth playoff seeds.
Prior to the 2020 pandemic shutdown, the top eight teams from the regular season claimed the eight spots in the Eastern and Western Conferences.
In the 2021-22 season, the Play-In Tournament will be played from April 12-15, 2022. The NBA regular season will end on April 10 and the playoffs will begin on April 16.
Other key dates for the 2021-22 season were also revealed, including Monday’s start of teams being able to negotiate with free agents and the period when teams can start signing free agents, which opens August 6.
NBA training camps will begin September 28 with NBA regular season games starting October 19. The NBA Finals are set to begin on June 2, 2022.
The NBA’s board of governors also restored two-way player rules to levels used prior to changes made to add flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
