2021 NBA Play-In Tournament Schedule Set

The 2021 NBA Play-In Tournament schedule has been set. Though the Portland Trail Blazers are working hard to avoid the seventh seed and next week’s tournament, should they participate, their first game will come Wednesday the 19th at a time to be determined. The Blazers would face the Golden State Warriors or Memphis Grizzlies, whomever finishes the regular season with the 8th-best record. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Following last night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns, Portland’s destiny will now be dictated by Sunday’s bout with the Denver Nuggets along with the final fortunes of the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. If the Blazers win on Sunday, if the Lakers lose either of their two final games, or if the Mavericks do not finish ahead of Portland, the Blazers will get the week off while other teams battle for the 7th and 8th seeds.

The NBA has released the dates and broadcasters showing each of the league’s six Play-In games.

The tournament is set up so the 7th and 8th teams in each conference play each other, with the winner gaining the 7th seed. The losers of the 7-8 matchups will play the winners of each conference’s 9-10 matchups to determine who will end up in the 8th-seed positions.

If the Blazers were forced to play in that second game, it would take place at the Moda Center on Friday, May 21st. This game will also be broadcast by ESPN.