With Tuesday’s loss in Toronto, the Hawks are locked into a play-in tournament slot, meaning they are guaranteed to finish no higher than the No. 7 seed and no lower than the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The play-in tournament is still relatively new, and this is the first time the Hawks will participate in it. So, here’s a breakdown of all the rules and possible scenarios for the Hawks heading into the postseason.
First, the Hawks’ regular season ends Sunday in Houston. The play-in tournament will run April 12-15, so there will be a quick turnaround.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Cavaliers are No. 7 at 43-37, with the Hawks (set to host the Wizards on Wednesday night) and Nets 1.5 games behind them at 41-38, with the No. 10 Hornets one game behind those two teams. The play-in field is set, so those four teams are guaranteed to finish Nos. 7-10, though the order may be different at the end of the regular season as those teams jockey for position.
Here’s how the play-in tournament is structured:
- The No. 7 seed and No. 8 seed get two chances to advance, though the winner of this game won’t need two chances. These two teams will play each other, with the winner automatically earning the No. 7 seed in the official NBA playoffs. The loser, however, is not automatically eliminated, and gets to play the winner of the No. 9-10 game for a second shot to advance.
- The No. 9 seed and No. 10 seed must win two games to advance, and here’s how that will work: First, a team has to win that initial 9-10 matchup. The loser of this game is eliminated; season over. The winner of this game, however, will play the loser of the No. 7-8 game. The winner of that game earns the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
After the field is set, and we’ve got the final two teams to round out the top 8 in the East, the playoffs will begin April 16.
So, to recap:
Q: What’s the benefit to finishing No. 7 or 8, instead of No. 9 or 10?
A: If the Hawks were to finish at No. 7 or No. 8, they would have to win only one game to earn a playoff bid. They also would get a second shot, if they happened to lose the first game. That’s a much easier path, with a safety net, compared with finishing No. 9 or 10.
If the Hawks finish No. 9 or 10, they would need to win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot. And if they lose that first matchup, they’re done.
Q: What are tiebreaker scenarios that could come into play?
A: Tiebreaker scenarios can get confusing, and the Hawks still have three regular-season games to go, so these might be irrelevant for the Hawks’ purposes. But just in case, here are the first few tiebreaker scenarios if two teams finish tied. There are tiebreaker scenarios for three-way ties, too, but there’s still a few too many regular-season games left to delve into that.
- The first tiebreaker is head-to-head, so the team with the higher win percentage in games against each other wins the tiebreaker.
- The next is if either team won its division, but that wouldn’t be the case for any of these teams. So, the next is division win-loss percentage (that’s only if two teams are in the same division, for example, the Hawks and the Hornets in the Southeast Division).
- The next is conference win-loss percentage.
Q: How are the Nos. 7-10 teams playing right now, and what does their final stretch look like?
A: Although Cleveland is No. 7, the Cavaliers are super injured and in a free-fall, 2-7 in their past nine games. They have two games left against two competitive teams, the Nets and the Bucks, so it’s possible they could keep falling.
The Nets have an incredibly easy schedule remaining, against the Knicks, Cavaliers and Pacers, so it’s likely they’ll keep climbing. The Hawks’ remaining schedule is a mixed bag. They have to play the Wizards on the second half of a back-to-back, traveling home from Toronto, and Washington has been playing well, 5-2 in its past seven games. Then they play in Miami (No. 1 seed in the East at 52-28) before wrapping up the season in Houston (last in the West at 20-60).
The Hornets have an up-and-down slate as well, playing Orlando (last in the East at 21-59), then in Chicago (No. 6 in the East at 45-34) and wrapping up vs. the Wizards.
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