The 2026 NBA postseason is here! The play-in tournament tips off Tuesday with two high-stakes matchups. In the East, a couple of Southeast Division rivals will face off in an elimination game, as the No. 9 seed Charlotte Hornets host the No. 10 seed Miami Heat.

The winner will advance with a shot at earning the No. 8 seed on Friday against either the Philadelphia 76ers or Orlando Magic. The loser will go home.In the West, the No. 7 seed Phoenix Suns will host the No. 8 seed Portland Trail Blazers in a battle of teams that have exceeded expectations this season. The winner will earn the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and a first-round series with the San Antonio Spurs.

The loser will have one last chance to earn a playoff berth on Friday in a matchup with either the LA Clippers or Golden State Warriors.Who will advance on Tuesday? Our writers break down the matchups and make their picks. What’s your take on Heat-Hornets?Morten Stig Jensen: This will be an enormously difficult test for Miami.

Both the Heat and Hornets are interesting offensive units, in the sense that Miami has been running like mad men all season, and the Hornets have become one of the most efficient 3-point shooting squads in all of basketball.That's also where they differ. Miami is, at best, a mid-tier 3-point shooting team, and if you think the Heat can offset that by some elite conversion rate by their primary big man, Bam Adebayo, think again. Adebayo hit just 44.2% of his total shots this season, leaving little avenue for the Heat to gain an offensive advantage elsewhere on the floor.

If they get into a running game with the Hornets, that might not work to their benefit, which further underlines the need for Miami to go back to what it’s mostly known for: Gritty defense. However, that hasn't been as staple of a calling card as in the past. Kelly Iko: It’s a pleasant surprise that a play-in game could produce such a high-level coaching matchup.

The Charles Lee-Erik Spoelstra tactical battle is as tantalizing as I’ve seen in quite some time at this early juncture. This game simply boils down to pace, pressing and proficiency. One of the reasons why Charlotte has been such an elite offensive unit — third in offensive rating and sixth in halfcourt efficiency since the trade deadline — is its ability to play at its own tempo.

The Hornets are 29th in pace since the All-Star break and 28th in time of possession. They move the ball, probe and prod until they find the shot they want to take. There’s a catch, though.

Force the Hornets to speed up and they generate just .888 points per chance against press defenses, according to Synergy tracking data. Miami, which rarely presses teams (26th in frequency), is absolutely lethal when it does (second in points allowed per chance). Add this to Charlotte’s very quiet struggles against zone defenses — 20th in efficiency — and you have yourselves a chance.

Pay attention to Davion Mitchell’s usage in this one, as one of the game’s premier full-court irritants.Dan Devine: At the risk of oversimplifying, it starts with stops. Miami entered mid-March ranked fourth in the NBA in points allowed per possession, doing its customary good-to-great job at nailing the fundamentals of excellent defense with Erik Spoelstra and Adebayo at the controls. Over the final month, though, the Heat’s formerly staunch defense buckled: 22nd in points allowed in the paint, 29th in opponent turnover rate, and 30th — dead last — in defensive efficiency.The glass-half-full case, if you’re a Miami fan: A decent chunk of that defensive decline stems from opponents shooting a scorching 41.1% against the Heat on 3-point tries over the past month — well above their full-season success rate, and a mark seemingly ripe for regression.

Glass half empty? Led by LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, the Hornets ranked third in team 3-point accuracy this season, second in 3-point attempts and first in 3-point makes — including 36 combined triples against Miami in their last twomeetings.If Spoelstra, Adebayo and Co. can find a way to limit the number and quality of 3-point looks that Charlotte’s able to generate, they’ll have a shot to advance. But if they can’t stop the drive-and-kick game in the man-to-man, and if the Hornets can exploit the openings in Miami’s zone, a Charlotte offense that’s been the NBA’s best since mid-December may well send the Heat home for a long, hard summer.What’s your take on Blazers-Suns?Dan Devine: Can Portland take care of the ball?

At its best, a Phoenix defense that features point-of-attack pests and physical ball-hawks like Dillon Brooks, Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie and Oso Ighodaro applies the kind of ball pressure that can create mistakes. For the season, the Suns ranked third in opponent turnover percentage, fourth in steals and fifth in deflections; they forced turnovers on nearly 20% of Portland’s offensive possessions across their three meetings this season.Interrupting and/or prematurely ending