How the Raptors and Canada's best NBA player fit into the play-in tournament

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It's not quite the playoffs, but it's pretty close. While the league's top teams rest up for the start of the traditional playoff bracket this weekend, eight other clubs battle for the chance to join them via the NBA's play-in tournament.

This year's play-in involves Canada's only NBA team (the Toronto Raptors) and Canada's best NBA player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander). Here's what to know:

How the play-in works:

The top six playoff seeds in each conference have already been decided. The teams that finished seventh through 10th in the regular-season standings will now compete for the seventh and eighth playoff seeds.

The play-in starts with the seventh-place team hosting the eighth-place team. The winner of that game advances directly to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The loser can still get in as the No. 8 seed by defeating the winner of tomorrow night's do-or-die game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams. That means the seventh- and eighth-place teams have two chances to win one game to get into the playoffs, while the ninth- and 10th-place teams must win two consecutive games to earn a playoff spot.

The 7 vs. 8 game in each conference is Tuesday, the 9 vs. 10 games are Wednesday and the final round of the play-in goes Friday. The 16-team playoff bracket tips off Saturday.

The matchups:

Tuesday:
(8) Atlanta at (7) Miami — 7:30 p.m. ET
(8) Minnesota at (7) Los Angeles Lakers — 10 p.m. ET

Wednesday:
(10) Chicago at (9) Toronto — 7 p.m. ET
(10) Oklahoma City at (9) New Orleans — 9:30 p.m. ET

Friday:
Winner of Chicago/Toronto at Loser of Atlanta/Miami
Winner of Oklahoma City/New Orleans at Loser of Minnesota/Los Angeles

The Raptors' outlook:

The good news for Toronto (41-41 in the regular season) is that Wednesday night's must-win game vs. Chicago (40-42) will take place at home, in front of one of the most passionate crowds in the league. But, if the Raptors get past the Bulls, they'll go on the road to face a more dangerous (and more rested) opponent.

Miami (44-38) underachieved this season, but Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and the Heat came within one win of reaching the NBA Finals last year. Atlanta (41-41) is kind of a mess, but Hawks sharpshooter Trae Young always seems to raise his game in the post-season. If the Raptors survive the play-in gauntlet, they'll meet Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-ranked Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. To earn a showdown with the Heat or Hawks for a spot in the playoffs, the Raptors must beat a Bulls team led by high-scoring wings Zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan, the former Raptors star. Toronto's current go-to-guy, Pascal Siakam, will try to ensure this isn't the final time Fred VanVleet and Nick Nurse appear with the Raptors. The former can become a free agent this summer while the latter has hinted his time as head coach might be coming to an end. Read more about the Raptors-Bulls matchup here.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's outlook:

SGA earned his first NBA All-Star Game appearance this season as he blossomed into a truly elite player. The 24-year-old guard finished fourth in the NBA in scoring with 31.4 points per game while averaging 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals (tied for fifth in the league). With fellow Canadian Lu Dort chipping in close to 14 points while often guarding the other team's best perimeter player, Oklahoma City (40-42) improved by a stunning 16 wins over last year to earn its first post-season berth since 2020.

The inexperienced Thunder are underdogs Wednesday night against New Orleans, which was among the league's top teams at the start of the calendar year before injuries sent them to a 42-40 finish. Oft-injured franchise player Zion Williams has been out since early January with a bad hamstring and won't be available for the play-in. But sidekick Brandon Ingram, who missed 37 games, is healthy now and averaging 24.7 points per game.

Other stuff to know:

The Lakers are the most dangerous team in the play-in. Aging superstar LeBron James and his brittle sidekick Anthony Davis looked rejuvenated down the stretch as L.A. won nine of its last 11, and the Lakers have played much better defence since ridding themselves of Russell Westbrook at the trade deadline. They'll be a tough out for either top-seeded Denver or No. 2 Memphis if they get through the play-in.

The Lakers are likely to do that Tuesday night against a self-destructing Minnesota team. The Timberwolves suspended centre Rudy Gobert for tonight's game for punching a teammate, while forward Jade McDaniels is also out after breaking his right hand when he punched a wall.

Conspicuously absent from the play-in is Dallas, which threw away its spot to OKC by losing nine of its last 11. The Mavericks could have been a problem for playoff opponents with their superstar backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Instead, they shamelessly tanked into the draft lottery for a shot at landing super-prospect Victor Wembanyama.