Heat-Hawks, Raptors-Bulls set for Eastern Conference play-in tournament

The Eastern Conference play-in tournament is set.

The No. 7 Miami Heat will host the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, April 11, while the No. 9 Toronto Raptors will take on the No. 10 Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, April 12.

The winner of the Heat-Hawks matchup will face the No. 2 Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The loser of the play-in game will face the winner of the Raptors-Bulls matchup on Friday, April 14 for a chance to play the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks in the postseason.

The Brooklyn Nets avoided the play-in tournament after clinching the sixth seed on Friday with their win over the Orlando Magic and the Heat's loss to the Washington Wizards.

The remaining series in the Eastern Conference playoffs are settled, with the No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers going up against the No. 6 Brooklyn Nets, and the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers battling the No. 5 New York Knicks.

Miami and Atlanta squared off in the first round of last season's playoffs, with the Heat beating the Hawks 4-1.

Toronto and Chicago are familiar foes, as Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan played nine seasons with the Raptors, making All-NBA third-team in 2017 and second-team in 2018.

In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder secured their play-in tournament berth as the last seed after the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated by the Bulls on Friday.