It’s official now: There’s going to be a play-in series to determine the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Memphis’ 108-99 loss to Toronto on Sunday means it is no longer possible for more than a four-game difference in the standings between the eighth- and ninth-place finishers in the West when it comes to seeding- game schedule ends later this week.
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Due to the rules the NBA set for this season’s restart, there had to be more than a cushion of four games for the No. 8 team to get the final playoff spot right away. The league decided to add the play-in-series option in an abundance of fairness, as about 14% of the regular season schedule was eliminated due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Memphis remains only in eighth place, even after losing Sunday. No team has a place in the play-in-series sound; the Grizzlies could have assured themselves of no less than that when they beat the Raptors on Sunday.
Game 1 of the play-in series will be Saturday, with Game 2 – if necessary – the following day, August 16. To advance and get the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, it will have eighth place to win one of the two games and the finisher in ninth place should go 2-0.
ABC will broadcast Game 1 of the play-in series on Saturday at 2.30pm EDT. Game 2, if needed, would be on August 16 at 4:30 pm on ESPN.
There will be no play-in series in the Eastern Conference; Brooklyn and Orlando have secured what the last two available spots on that bracket were, with Washington – the only other team that came to Disney with a chance of qualifying in the East – already eliminated.
The playoffs begin Monday, August 17th.
“Of course, that’s what every goal is,” Alvin Gentry, New Orleans’ coach, said Sunday.
The matchup for the play-off will be announced no later than Thursday. There are four seeding games on Friday, the last day of the regular season, though none of them will have an interest in the West matchup.
