Next week's NBA play-in tournament determines the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference for the playoffs. The Timberwolves, locked into the No. 7 spot in the West, will be participating in the play-in tournament for the first time.
Structure: Six games; there are two games Tuesday (the No. 7 team in the standings in each conference plays host to the No. 8 team), two games Wednesday (the No. 9 team plays host to the No. 10 team) and two games Friday (the No. 9/10 winner plays at the No. 7/8 loser). Tuesday's winners become the No. 7 seeds in their respective conferences, Friday's winners the No. 8 seeds.
What it means: The Wolves have to win one of two home games to earn a playoff spot. With the Wolves locked into seventh place in the West when Denver won Thursday night, they will play the Clippers at home on Tuesday night (8:30 p.m., TNT), with the winner earning the No. 7 seed and facing Memphis in the first round of the playoffs starting Saturday. If the Wolves lose to the Clippers, they would play host on Friday night to the winner of Wednesday night's Spurs-Pelicans game; Friday's winner would be the No. 8 seed in the West and play Phoenix in the first round.
Lose both games, and the Wolves will miss the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and for the 17th time in 18 seasons.
History: This is the third year of the play-in tournament. In 2020, a different format was used in the Orlando bubble, and only one game was contested (eighth-place Portland beat ninth-place Memphis 126-122, clinching the No. 8 spot in the West; there was no Eastern Conference game). Last year, the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis won the final two spots in the West, with the Grizzlies winning at Golden State to earn the final spot, while Boston and Washington earned the last two playoff berths in the East.
