Cavs: NBA Play-In Tournament Explained, Where To Watch

CLEVELAND, OH —The NBA's regular season ended Sunday and the Cleveland Cavaliers finished with a 44-38 record and in the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference.

In the past, that meant the Cavs would be the final team in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. But things are not as straightforward anymore.

In 2021, the NBA began its Play-In Tournament, and now the No. 9 and No. 10 teams in each conference have a chance to play themselves into the NBA Playoffs. Meanwhile, the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each conference have a chance to play themselves out of the postseason before the NBA Playoffs actually begin.

The NBA believes this format makes the final weeks of the regular season more interesting because more teams have a chance to reach the postseason. Plus, teams are looking to solidify themselves in the No. 1 through No. 6 spots in the conference, thus avoiding the Play-In Tournament.

"What we're seeing is a far greater impact essentially on the last month of the season," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, according to NBA.com, "where teams are either jockeying to get into the Play-In Tournament itself or jockeying to get out of (it)."

The No. 8 seed Cavaliers open the Play-In Tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the No. 7 seed Brooklyn Nets. The game will air on TNT.

Brooklyn finished with an identical 44-38 record to the Cavs, but the Nets ended up in the No. 7 spot because Brooklyn won three of four matchups between the teams this season.

The winner of Tuesday's game will become the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, going into a best-of-seven first-round matchup against the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics. Game 1 of that series will take place Sunday in Boston.

However, if the Cavaliers lose to the Nets, Cleveland's season is not over. Instead, the Cavs will face the winner of Wednesday night's matchup between the No. 10 Charlotte Hornets and the No. 9 Atlanta Hawks.

If Cleveland loses to the Nets, their game against the Hornets/Hawks winner is scheduled for Friday at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The game time has not yet been determined, but it will air on ESPN.

A second loss in the Play-In Tournament would mean the Cavs are eliminated from the playoffs proper.

But with a win in the second Play-In Tournament game, the Cavs would become the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, and they would face the No. 1 seed Miami Heat in a best-of-seven first-round series starting on Sunday.

According to Shams Charania, who covers the NBA for The Athletic and Stadium, the Cavs will be without their All-Star center Jarrett Allen for the game against the Nets. Allen, a former Nets player, still is rehabbing a fractured left finger he suffered on March 6.

There has not been any word on whether Allen would be available for a second Play-In Tournament game on Friday or for a first-round playoff opener on Sunday.