SCANLON: NBA's play-in format has put a little spark into the playoffs

The NBA's play-in concept is the best idea to come along in pro sports in some time. It actually improves the nature and the appeal of the competition, not just in the playoffs but also during the season.

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said it best.

"We're all fans of the game and the playoff atmosphere," Spoelstra said before the Heat's final regular-season game last Sunday. "I think the play-in has really created some very compelling matchups and a lot of opportunities to compete whereas teams, in recent years, would have probably just fell out of the race and tried to play for ping pong balls."

The Heat wasn't involved in the play-in games, having clinched the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed and thereby earning a week of rest and recovery after a six-month grind.

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"I think it'll be good entertainment," Spoelstra observed of the play-in round. "Our video room and scouting department will be watching with a different lens than I'll be watching it. I don't want to stress myself out on all the different possibilities before we actually get to know who we'll play."

Spoelstra's reference to ping pong balls is a rare acknowledgment of what everyone knows to be true — tanking has become a problem in pro sports, perhaps most notably in the NBA. The play-in tournament won't eliminate tanking, but it does keep more teams involved in the championship chase and reduces the incentive to tank games.

And it does not add teams to the playoffs. In fact, it reduces the number of teams that qualify for the playoffs during the 82-game regular season, from eight teams in each conference to six.

Here's how it works: Each conference has 15 teams. The regular season sorts them out 1 through 15, and eliminates the bottom five. That leaves 10 teams, but only six are in the playoffs. Teams 7 through 10 must play their way in, and the two survivors of that four-team scrum must face the top-seeded teams in their conferences in a best-of seven playoff series.

It creates a three-tier format. If you don't get into the top six, you face the possibility of quick elimination. There is nothing unfair about it. If you are ousted from the playoffs by one or two losses, it's because your 82-game performance put you in that position.

In fact, the Brooklyn Nets have provided a perfect illustration of the fairness of the play-in system and the intrigue it adds to the postseason.

The Nets have gone in as big Eastern Conference favorites in each of the last two seasons. Last year they lost a seventh game in overtime to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks. This year they finished seventh because Kyrie Irving chose not to get vaccinated and thereby disqualified himself from home games in New York.

Another big season by Kevin Durant was only enough to carry Brooklyn to a play-in game. With Irving back on a full-time basis after the lifting of COVID restrictions, the Nets won their play-in game. Had they lost, and then lost again on Thursday night, they would be out. Instead the Nets will play Boston, probably the best team in the East since the first of the year, in the most intriguing 2-vs.-7 matchup in memory.

No fewer than five teams in the East have a legitimate chance to go to the Finals.

The Phoenix Suns, having cruised to the best record in the league despite losing Chris Paul for a month, go in as big favorites in the West and slight favorites to win their first NBA championship.

As usual, health will be a major factor in determining who survives in the NBA playoffs, and two recent developments are noteworthy out West.

MVP candidate Luka Doncic might miss Dallas' first two games against Utah with a calf strain. If that injury persists, it is likely to eliminate the Mavericks and move the Jazz into a second-round series against Phoenix.

And Steph Curry is reportedly ready to go for Golden State after missing a month with a foot injury. The Warriors were 43-19 with Curry this season and 8-10 without him. The latter figure includes a five-game season-ending win streak that enabled Golden State to finish third in the West. Their first-round series against Denver started Saturday night.

Players like Doncic and Curry are luxuries during the season and necessities during the postseason. The regular season is too long and so is the postseason, but that's where the money is so it's not going to change.

What has changed, for the better, is the postseason format. The play-in arrangement has provided a little more incentive during the regular season and has put a little spark into the playoffs.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: NBA's play-in format has put a little spark into the playoffs