It determines the final two playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference and is played immediately prior to the NBA playoffs, which is the main tournament of the postseason and regarded by the league as separate from the play-in tournament.

On June 4, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors approved the first ever play-in game for the 2019–20 season.

[1] On November 19, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors approved a format for the 2020–21 season to have a playoff play-in tournament involving the teams that ranked 7th through 10th in each conference.

Because ninth-place Memphis (34–39) finished the season one-half game behind eighth-place Portland (35–39), a play-in was required to determine the 8th seed in the conference.

[4] Because ninth-place Washington (25–47) finished 7+1⁄2 games behind eighth-place Orlando (33–40), no play-in was contested.

[3] Bold Game winner Italic Team with home-court advantage Bold Game winner Italic Team with home-court advantage 2024 was the fourth season to use the Page–McIntyre system.

The 2022–23 Miami Heat had the best performance by any play-in team in the playoffs after reaching the 2023 NBA Finals.

[7] The below table shows teams' results per their conference position entering the play-in tournament, since the NBA adopted the current format in 2021.

[11] In Canada, the home market of the Toronto Raptors, coverage is split approximately equally between the Sportsnet and TSN.