2023 NBA play-in tournament expert picks, predictions: Hawks-Heat, Timberwolves-Lakers on Tuesday – CBS Sports

The 2022-23 regular season has come to a close and four of the eight first-round matchups are set. The other four, of course, will be decided by the play-in tournament as the top two seeds in each conference (Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies in the West, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics in the East) wait to see who they’ll draw.

Reminder how the play-in works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed.

Below you’ll find our staff’s picks for the first round of play-in games as well as the elimination game for the No. 8 seed. 

No. 7 Miami Heat vs. No. 8 Atlanta Hawks

Date: Tuesday, April 11 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: TNT  

No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves

Date: Tuesday, April 11 | Time: 10 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: TNT

No. 9 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 10 Chicago Bulls

Date: Wednesday, April 12 | Time: 7 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: ESPN

No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans vs. No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder

Date: Wednesday, April 12 | Time: 9:30 p.m. ET | TV and live stream: ESPN  

No. 8 seed play-in game (East)

Bill Reiter: Bulls over Hawks

Brad Botkin: Hawks over Raptors

James Herbert: Hawks over Raptors

Colin Ward-Henninger: Raptors over Hawks

Sam Quinn: Heat over Raptors

Jasmyn Wimbish: Hawks over Bulls

Jack Maloney: Bulls over Hawks

Michael Kaskey-Blomain: Hawks over Bulls

No. 8 seed play-in game (West)

Bill Reiter: Timberwolves over Thunder

Brad Botkin: Pelicans over Timberwolves

James Herbert: Timberwolves over Thunder

Colin Ward-Henninger: Pelicans over Timberwolves

Sam Quinn: Thunder over Timberwolves

Jasmyn Wimbish: Thunder over Timberwolves

Jack Maloney: Pelicans over Timberwolves

Michael Kaskey-Blomain: Timberwolves over Thunder