Magic, Hornets, Suns, Warriors vie for final NBA playoff seeds Friday

The final two NBA playoff seeds were on the line Friday, with Orlando hosting Charlotte at 7:30 p.m. ET and Phoenix facing Golden State at 10 p.m. ET for the East and West No. 8 spots. The winners advanced to the first round against the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder, while the losers saw their seasons end.

That made the night more than a pair of elimination games. It was the sharpest edge of the league's play-in system, a one-night bridge between the regular season and the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, which began April 18. All of the 2026 play-in games streamed exclusively on Prime Video, putting every possession from April 14 through April 17 behind one digital window.

The format has been permanent since 2022, after first appearing in the 2020 restart and returning for 2021-22. In its sixth season, it kept the playoff race alive far deeper into April by giving the No. 7 and No. 8 teams one game for a direct berth, while the No. 9 and No. 10 teams first had to survive an elimination game and then beat the loser of the 7-8 matchup to reach the field. Friday's games were the final step in that chain, with only the No. 8 seeds left to settle.

The pressure was not only competitive but institutional. The play-in has become one of Adam Silver's signature changes, built to cut tanking and give more teams something meaningful to chase late in the season. That goal was visible in this year's field, which included former MVPs Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid and gave the league one more marquee night before the bracket locked in. For Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix and Golden State, the stakes went beyond one seed line on a bracket. A single result decided whether a team moved on to face a conference No. 1 or spent the spring starting over.