The 2023-24 regular season is in the books for the Eastern Conference, which means the play-in tournament bracket is set. Here’s a look at which teams will be participating in this year’s edition and how the schedule will work over the next week.
2024 NBA play-in tournament: Eastern Conference bracket
After a day off Monday and Tuesday, the first play-in game will take place Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET to determine the No. 7 seed in the conference. The Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat, two teams who were on the short list of title contenders when the season began, will now be fighting to make the postseason. These sides met in the conference semifinals in the 2022 playoffs.
The Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks will meet in the 9-10 matchup in Chicago Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET. The Bulls were in this situation last season and were able to advance to the second play-in game, while the Hawks were in the 7-8 game. Atlanta won that contest and became the No. 7 seed. The winner of this game will advance to Friday’s contest for the No. 8 seed.
The winner of Friday’s play-in game will be the No. 8 seed and take on the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. That contest will take place between the loser of 76ers/Heat and the winner of Bulls/Hawks.