NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans have clinched a spot in the NBA's play-in tournament. The team qualified on Tuesday night after defeating the Sacramento Kings, paired with the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Phoenix Suns.
The Pelicans currently sit in ninth place in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs, who also clinched a spot in the play-in tournament, both because of the Lakers losing and their victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
Get used to hearing plenty about the San Antonio Spurs in the coming days, because the Pelicans are guaranteed to face the Spurs in the play-in tournament.
What still has to be configured is whether that game will be played in New Orleans or San Antonio. That will be determined based off of results in each of the team's final three games. As mentioned, the Pelicans are ahead by one game, so if they win all of their remaining games, they will host the play-in game.
Play-In Host Tiebreaker Scenarios
The first tiebreaker that comes into play is head-to-head record. The Spurs are 3-1against the Pelicans this season, so if they finish with identical records, the Spurs would host.
Given that the remaining schedules for both teams are only against Western Conference opponents, if both teams win the same number of games in their final three, then the Pelicans would still remain ahead because they would still have the better record.
The Play-In Tournament Itself
The play-in tournament is designed to determine the seventh and eighth seeded teams in both the Eastern and Western Conference playoff brackets.
There are three play-in games: the current number 7 seed vs. the current number 8, the current number 9 seed vs. the current number 10, and the loser of the 7 vs. 8 matchup vs. the winner of the 9 vs. 10 matchup.
The winner of the 7 vs. 8 matchup will be the number 7 seed, and would directly qualify for the playoffs and face off with the number 2 seed in the first round. The loser of the 9 vs. 10 matchup is eliminated.
The loser of the 7 vs. 8 matchup would then host the winner of the 9 vs. 10 matchup to determine the final seed in each conference, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the number 8 seed, and will qualify for the playoffs and face the conference's number 1 seed in the first round. The loser would be eliminated.
As mentioned above, in the Pelicans' case, the team is locked in to serve as either the number 9 or number 10 seed and will face the Spurs in their leg of the play-in tournament. If the Pelicans manage to beat the Spurs, they would then travel to face the loser of the 7 vs. 8 matchup. At the moment, only the Los Angeles Clippers are guaranteed to be one of the two teams in that game.
If the Pelicans manage to win both matchups, then they would officially qualify for the 2022 NBA Playoffs, and would face the Phoenix Suns in the first round.