The Chicago Bulls are locked into the 10th seed for the NBA play-in tournament, a battle for the last two playoff seeds in each conference. Here’s an explainer about the history of the event and how it works — and where the Bulls stand.
When did the play-in begin?
The NBA introduced the idea after the restart of the pandemic-delayed 2019-20 season, with a team needing to be within four games of the No. 8 seed to force a play-in for the last playoff spot in the conference.
The Memphis Grizzlies finished a half-game behind the No. 8 seed Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference, and the Blazers won the first game of a play-in, thus earning the final playoff spot. In the East, the ninth-place Washington Wizards finished 7½ games behind the eighth-place Orlando Magic, meaning a play-in was unnecessary.
How has the tournament evolved?
The next year, the NBA expanded its play-in rules, with only the top six seeds in each conference guaranteed of a playoff spot and the Nos. 7-10 seeds battling for the final two berths.
No. 7 would play host to No. 8, with the winner earning the No. 7 seed. Then the winner of host No. 9 versus No. 10 would face the loser of the 7-8 matchup, with that winner earning the No. 8 seed. The NBA has kept this format since then.
For the record, none of the play-in teams has won a first-round playoff series.
Where do the Bulls stand?
The Bulls (38-40) are locked into the 10th seed after losing 105-92 to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. That means they will travel to play the ninth seed next Wednesday for a single-elimination game. If the Bulls win, they would travel to face the loser of the 7-8 game on April 14.
The Atlanta Hawks (41-39) and Toronto Raptors (40-40) are jockeying for the eighth and ninth seeds. The Hawks own the head-to-head tiebreaker in addition to their one-game lead, making the Raptors the most likely opponent for the Bulls.
The Bulls clinched a play-in berth Tuesday — despite losing 123-105 to the Hawks — when the Orlando Magic lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113.
Bulls remaining schedule
- Friday: at Dallas Mavericks, 7:30 p.m., NBCSCH
- Sunday: vs. Detroit Pistons, noon, NBCSCH
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