Before the 2025 NBA playoffs tip off in earnest, eight teams face off head-to-head in this week’s play-in tournament to determine the final spots.
The Orlando Magic claimed the first play-in victory with a runaway win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. The Golden State Warriors looked on their way to their own blowout win, but then had to dig deep to survive the Memphis Grizzlies in the Tuesday nightcap.
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Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 NBA play-in tournament. Check out our staff predictions for this week’s games, and scroll down for live updates.
Warriors 121, Grizzlies 116
Since the trade deadline, so much has been about how the Jimmy Butler deal has revitalized Stephen Curry, and that was on full display Tuesday as the host Warriors survived a Grizzlies comeback behind 75 combined points from their two offensive stars.
Butler had 38 points, most of them in the first half, while Curry came up huge in the fourth quarter on his way to 37. The Warriors will now face the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
The Warriors had a 20-point lead at one point, but a furious Grizzlies comeback in the third quarter made it a game. Memphis looked like it had to survive a major blow when Ja Morant rolled his ankle toward the end of the third frame, but he returned, still in some pain, a few minutes into the fourth quarter.
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The Grizzlies managed to take back the lead in the fourth, but the game was ultimately decided by Curry. He delivered a pair of dagger 3-pointers, one of them pump-faking Scotty Pippen Jr. into oblivion, to give the Warriors a healthy lead in the final minute.
“That’s a Batman if I’ve ever seen a Batman,” Butler told TNT after the game. “Always coming to save the day.
“You’re never out of any game. He’s so poised. He’s so calm.”
Memphis did get a chance to tie the game, getting the ball back down three points with 5.4 seconds left, but a five-second violation on the inbound prematurely killed that chance. The Grizzlies will now await either the Sacramento Kings or Dallas Mavericks in Memphis for the West’s final play-in game.
Magic 120, Hawks 95
The Magic took a commanding first-quarter lead, then fought off a Trae Young-sparked Hawks rally for a 120-95 win in the first game of the NBA play-in on Tuesday.
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With the win, the Magic clinch the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and advance to face the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the first round. The Hawks remain alive for the playoffs.
Atlanta will play an elimination game Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s East play-in game between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. The winner of Friday’s game will secure the No. 8 seed in the East and take on the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. The loser’s season will be over.
Orlando took charge early with a strong effort on defense and the glass in a first half in which it led by as many as 22 points. The Hawks cut the deficit to 61-47 by halftime, then rode Young’s hot hand and a cold stretch by the Magic to a 26-18 advantage in the third quarter. Young scored 12 points in the third as the Hawks got as close as 71-68 with three minutes remaining in the quarter.
But a big second half from Cole Anthony led the Magic to retake control. Orlando extended its lead back to 15 points midway through the fourth quarter and didn’t allow another Atlanta run. Young got ejected late in the game for kicking a dead ball away from an official as the game got out of hand.
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Anthony led the second-half charge for Orlando and finished with a team-high 26 points points off the bench. His backup backcourt mate, Anthony Black, had a big game too with 16 points as they combined to shoot 16-of-24 from the field and 7-of-12 from 3.
Here’s how it all went down at Yahoo Sports: