While the NBA playoffs are typically full of fun and thrilling games, the possibility of that idea being negatively affected by the play-in games. Introduced during the 2019-20 season, the play-in games right before the playoffs. Originally, it worked as two games – one for each conference between the 8th and 9th seed teams. The next season, the play-in round was expanded to where 10th seed teams would be included and there would be 2 rounds. The 9th and 10th seeds would have to win two games to advance to the playoffs. This system is still being used to determine the 7th and 8th seeds for the playoffs, and with the playoffs coming up in the NBA soon, I think this should be the last season where it is in place.
This season, the two conferences have been a tale of two cities. The Eastern Conference has been completely dominated by the Boston Celtics. The Western Conference has been more competitive, with the race for the 1 seed coming down to the wire. However, the situations at the top of these conferences are also occurring with the potential play-in teams. In the Eastern Conference, the 76ers and Heat are the current 7 and 8 seeds with records of 45-35 and 44-36. Despite them having good records, there is a big drop off between them and the 9th and 10th teams, the Bulls and the Hawks, with records of 37-42 and 36-44. It would be unfair for the Bulls and Hawks to make the playoffs with worse seasons just based off a couple games. While it seems like the 76ers and Heat should advance, some games end up being flukes and injuries could plague the games. In fact, injuries have damaged those teams this season with Joel Embiid and Trae Young missing time. The actual playoffs do a good job of avoiding this with 7-game series occuring for each round. Unfortunately, it would be unnecessary to have a 7-game series here, so the best option would be to get rid of it altogether.
In the Western Conference, the playoff race between the 7 and 10 seeds is competitive, but there is also a drop off here, between the 10 seed Warriors with a 44-35 record, and the 11 seed Rockets, with a 39-40 record. While it seems beneficial to have the play-in for the Western Conference, as the Lakers and Warriors have had playoff-worthy seasons, this makes it seem like not every game matters. Since they are guaranteed a play-in spot, they don’t need to try that much for the last few games of the season; the only reward for them is a higher play-in seed. With the NBA having an 82-game season, most of the regular season games don’t have a large effect on team records and the playoff race. The NBA even added an in-season tournament to make the regular season more entertaining and seem like it matters. However, they didn’t even need to have it because a competitive play-off race would be even more thrilling to follow.
Besides the complicated situation of the two conferences this season, the NBA play-in round has negatively affected the playoffs during other seasons. In the 2021-22 season, the Clippers, with a 42-40 record, lost to the Pelicans, who had a 36-46 record. The Pelicans made it to the playoffs, but they really didn’t deserve it. They had a losing record with a .439 winning percentage. The #1 draft pick of the Pelicans a few years prior, Zion Williamson was out for the entire season. Also, the Clippers missed Paul George, a key piece during that season who missed time due to an injury. During the same season, the Hawks made it in the Eastern Conference as a 9 seed during the regular season, which was undeserved.
With the expansion of the number of NFL playoff teams being added a few years ago, it’s clear that professional sports leagues want to be more inclusive for playoff teams. However, these changes are unnecessary, and it would be beneficial for the NBA to remove the play-in round altogether.
