MIAMI — The play-in match discipline is ready, and identical to that the postseason has arrived within the NBA.

First up: an elimination sport in Charlotte. The ninth-place Hornets will tackle the Tenth-place Miami Warmth on Tuesday night time (7:30 p.m. Japanese) in a win-or-go-home sport to open the play-in match.

The remainder of the play-in schedule:

— West No. 7 Phoenix meets West No. 8 Portland on Tuesday (10 p.m. Japanese), with the winner shifting on to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in Spherical 1.

— East No. 7 Philadelphia performs host to East No. 8 Orlando on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. Japanese), with the winner of that sport set to satisfy the Boston Celtics in Spherical 1.

— The Los Angeles Clippers, No. 9 within the West, play host to No. 10 Golden State on Wednesday (10 p.m. Japanese) in an elimination sport. The winner will play the Suns-Path Blazers loser on Friday for the proper to satisfy No. 1 Oklahoma Metropolis in Spherical 1.

— Additionally Friday, the Hornets-Warmth winner will go to the 76ers-Magic loser to determine which workforce advances to face No. 1 Detroit in Spherical 1.

“Our group understands what wins and loses for us,” Warmth coach Erik Spoelstra stated. “And that’s an important factor.”

The highest two seeds in every convention — Detroit, Boston, Oklahoma Metropolis and San Antonio — will wait till both Tuesday or Friday to seek out out their Spherical 1 opponents.

Some groups already know. The three-vs.-6 and 4-vs.-5 Spherical 1 matchups are set.

Within the East, No. 3 New York will play No. 6 Atlanta, and No. 4 Cleveland takes on No. 5 Toronto. Within the West, No. 3 Denver will play No. 6 Minnesota — the third time in 4 years these groups have met within the postseason — whereas the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers will face No. 5 Houston.

Contained in the Warmth locker room on Sunday night time, everyone’s eyes had been on a large tv set displaying the tip of the Orlando-Boston sport.

With good cause. It determined an entire lot within the East.

The Celtics beat the Magic, which dropped Orlando into the No. 8 spot for the play-in. It additionally ensured the Miami-Charlotte sport could be performed Tuesday, since Philadelphia can’t host basketball video games Monday or Tuesday due to enviornment scheduling conflicts with the NHL’s Flyers.

“This one is finished,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley stated after the loss in Boston. “You have to be sure to focus your time and your consideration and your power all on the Philadelphia 76ers proper now.”

Portland beat Sacramento to earn the No. 8 spot within the West going into the play-in, and subsequently can have two possibilities to win one sport and earn a playoff berth. The Clippers beat Golden State of their finale, and now these groups will play once more in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday in an elimination sport.

“Every workforce is aware of the opposite fairly nicely, simply from enjoying towards them quite a bit through the years,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated.

Denver — which ended the common season on a 12-game successful streak — topped San Antonio to lock up the No. 3 seed. The Lakers beat Utah, and that end result means LeBron James shall be taking up Kevin Durant of their first postseason assembly because the 2018 NBA Finals.

Extra factors had been scored this season than in some other in NBA historical past, with the earlier file of 282,127 factors getting handed Sunday night — with about seven video games left to be performed on the schedule.

The ultimate whole for the season: 284,395 factors.

It wasn’t a file for factors per sport; that mark of 118.8 factors per workforce, per sport, has stood since 1961-62. This season’s tempo of 115.6 factors per workforce was sixth-best in NBA historical past.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic appeared within the Nuggets’ sport towards San Antonio on Sunday night time, which pushed his whole to 65 video games for the season — and subsequently received him eligibility on the NBA’s award ballots that shall be despatched out later this week.

Jokic was second in final 12 months’s MVP balloting behind solely Oklahoma Metropolis’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, That made Jokic simply the third participant in NBA historical past with a top-two end in 5 or extra consecutive seasons, becoming a member of Invoice Russell and Larry Hen.

Jokic gained MVP in 2021, 2023 and 2024, plus was second in 2022 and once more final 12 months.

Russell and Hen, a pair of Boston Celtics greats, every had been first or second within the balloting in six consecutive seasons.

The league’s statistical champions have been recognized for a while, however now they’re formally official.

The Lakers’ Luka Doncic (33.5 factors per sport) gained the scoring title, whereas Jokic gained each the rebounding (12.9 per sport) and help (10.7 per sport) titles to finish one other season wherein he averaged a triple-double.

Different stat objects of observe:

— The league completed with 96 video games determined by 30 factors or extra, 16 greater than the earlier file (set final season).

— The typical margin of victory this season was 13.3 factors, one other file (earlier was 12.7, set final season).

— This one is wild. Final season within the NBA, groups listed as favorites by BetMGM Sportsbook went 853-377. This season, they went … 853-377.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba