{"id":603344,"date":"2026-04-13T04:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T04:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603344\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T04:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T04:05:12","slug":"match-ups-brackets-tv-times-play-in-tournament-seedings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603344\/","title":{"rendered":"Match-ups, brackets, TV times, play-in tournament, seedings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The final day of the NBA regular season is here and after a year which has seen nearly nine teams trying to out-tank each other in a bid to secure the best lottery odds, the playoffs can\u2019t come soon enough.<\/p>\n<p>Watch NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream an average 9 LIVE Regular Season games per week plus the best of the NBA Playoffs.| New to Kayo? <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/welcome?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkbasketball-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-basketball-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The match-ups are also locked in, both for the play-in tournament and playoffs, with Australian duo Dyson Daniels and Jock Landale facing the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The Nuggets and Timberwolves, meanwhile, will renew their modern-day rivalry after their epic 2024 Western Conference semi-finals series which saw Minnesota overcome a 20-point deficit in Denver in Game 7.<\/p>\n<p>The injury-hit Lakers, meanwhile, face Kevin Durant and the Rockets while the Cavaliers play the Raptors.<\/p>\n<p>The other playoffs match-ups are yet to be decided, with the play-in tournament to determine who the top two seeds from both conferences will face.<\/p>\n<p>NBA Wrap: Dyson stars in upset win | 02:52<\/p>\n<p>The end of the regular season, however, could also coincide with a number of teams parting with their head coaches and on Monday Milwaukee was the first team to make the call.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN reported that Rivers was stepping down as head coach after a disappointing 32-50 season. <\/p>\n<p>Rivers had another season remaining on the $40 million contract he signed when hired in January of 2024 and according to The Athletic, he will be paid out for the final season of his deal.<\/p>\n<p>Monday\u2019s development was not all that surprising after Rivers hinted at stepping away from coaching in an honest interview with local media after the Bucks\u2019 season-ending loss to the 76ers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can tell you we\u2019re all on the same page,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about it, and we want it out pretty quick. I just want them to do it, it\u2019s better. But I think you guys pretty much know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is expected Rivers will take on another role with the Bucks moving forward, although he may decide to take a break first to reset before returning to the organisation.<\/p>\n<p>It is the start of what is expected to be a dramatic summer for Milwaukee, with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s future the biggest talking point moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>Antetokounmpo can sign an extension with the Bucks, but he won\u2019t be able to do so until October, with the chance he is instead traded to a rival team before then. <\/p>\n<p>NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (All times AEST)<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday April 15<\/p>\n<p>76ers vs Magic, 9.30am &#8212; Loser is eliminated from postseason<\/p>\n<p>Suns vs. Trail Blazers, 12pm &#8212; Winner gets West No. 7 seed<\/p>\n<p>Thursday, April 16<\/p>\n<p>Hornets vs Heat, 9.30am &#8212; Winner gets East No. 7 seed<\/p>\n<p>Clippers vs. Warriors, 12pm &#8212; Loser is eliminated<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, April 18<\/p>\n<p>TBD vs. TBD, 9.30am &#8212; Winner gets East No. 8 seed, loser is eliminated<\/p>\n<p>TBD vs. TBD, 12pm &#8212; Winner gets West No. 8 seed, loser is eliminated<\/p>\n<p>NBA PLAYOFFS <\/p>\n<p>Eastern Conference<\/p>\n<p>(1) Pistons vs. No. 8 seed<\/p>\n<p>(2) Celtics vs. No. 7 seed<\/p>\n<p>(3) Knicks vs. (6) Hawks<\/p>\n<p>(4) Cavaliers vs. (5) Raptors <\/p>\n<p>Western Conference<\/p>\n<p>(1) Thunder vs. No. 8 seed<\/p>\n<p>(2) Spurs vs. No. 7 seed<\/p>\n<p>(3) Nuggets vs. (6) Timberwolves<\/p>\n<p>(4) Lakers vs. (5) Rockets <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The final day of the NBA regular season is here and after a year which has seen nearly&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-603344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}