Two games. Two 8-seeds. Four teams still playing, two of them going home.

The first round of the NBA Playoffs begins tomorrow. Tonight determines the final two participants. Here's what happened to get us here and what's on the line when the ball tips.

In the East, Charlotte beat Miami on Tuesday to survive the 9/10 game. Philadelphia beat Orlando on Wednesday to claim the East's 7-seed and a first-round date with Boston. That means Orlando are now one loss away from elimination, hosting Charlotte and faces a Hornets team that's already proven it can win close games.

In the West, Portland beat Phoenix on Tuesday to claim the West's 7-seed and a first-round matchup with San Antonio. That loss dropped Phoenix into the 8-seed elimination game. Golden State stunned the LA Clippers on Wednesday to advance out of the 9/10 game. Now Golden State travels to Phoenix, with the winner earning the 8-seed and a date with OKC.

What's at stake: The 8-seed. Winner faces Detroit (1) in the First Round.

This is a strange spot for Orlando. The Magic enter tonight with momentum from the end of the regular season — then ran into a Philly team that simply outplayed them Wednesday. Now they're hosting Charlotte in an elimination game, and the pressure dynamic has completely flipped. Orlando was supposed to be the hot team. Charlotte was the inexperienced team who could have bowed out quietly.

Instead, the Hornets beat Miami and are now the ones with momentum. Charlotte goes into Wednesday's Amway Center with the confidence of a team that's already won an elimination game this week. That's not nothing — road wins in do-or-die situations build a different kind of belief than anything you can manufacture in practice.

Orlando still has home court, and the Magic are talented enough to close this out in front of their own crowd. But they have to answer for Wednesday's loss, and Charlotte has no reason to be afraid of them. The Hornets have already done the harder thing once this week.

Charlotte wins if they carry Tuesday's road momentum into Amway Center and make this feel like just another away game. The Hornets have already proven they can win in the postseason environment — if that confidence translates and they sink more of their three pointers, Orlando's home court advantage shrinks considerably.

Orlando wins if they treat Wednesday's loss as the wake-up call it should be and come out locked in from tip-off. The Magic have the better roster and the home crowd — if they play to their ceiling, Charlotte doesn't have the firepower to keep up.

What's at stake: The 8-seed. Winner faces OKC (1) in the First Round.

Phoenix had home court and the higher seed on Tuesday and still lost to Portland. Now they're back in their own building for a second elimination game in four days, this time against a Golden State team that just beat the Clippers and is playing with genuine momentum.

The Suns' inconsistency has been the story of their entire season and it showed during their home loss to Portland in the 7/8 game — and tonight they have to prove they can put together a clean 48 minutes when their season is on the line for the second time this week. Home court helps. The pressure of having already blown one home elimination game does not.

Golden State's experience in high-leverage single-elimination spots is real. The Warriors have been in these moments before, and beating the Clippers on Wednesday gave them the kind of confidence boost that carries into a quick turnaround. They're the road team tonight, but they're also the team that doesn't feel the weight of Tuesday's loss hanging over them.

Golden State wins if their experience in high-pressure elimination spots outweighs Phoenix's home court. The Warriors have been in these rooms before — if they come out composed and make Phoenix feel the weight of Tuesday's loss, they advance. Plus they have a (relatively) healthy Steph Curry and his play could lead the Warriors to another upset.

Phoenix wins if they can compartmentalize Tuesday and treat tonight as a clean slate. The Suns are the better team on paper and have the crowd behind them — if they play with the urgency the moment demands, Golden State's road night gets very long.

Win tonight, and your reward is one of the toughest possible first-round draws in the NBA. That's just the reality of being an 8-seed.

Charlotte or Orlando will open the first round against the Detroit Pistons, the best record in the Eastern conference, and a team that's been one of the most dominant wire-to-wire stories of the entire season. Detroit finished four games ahead of Boston, seven ahead of New York. Whoever comes out of Amway Center tonight will head into that series as a significant underdog with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Game 1 is Saturday, April 19.

Golden State or Phoenix will open the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder — the West's 1-seed and the most efficient team in basketball this season. OKC won seven straight at one point and closed the year at .800. There is no comfortable path as an 8-seed in the West, but drawing the Thunder is the hardest version of that assignment. Game 1 is Saturday, April 19.

Both 8-seeds will be on the road from the jump, in hostile environments, against the best teams in their conference. The play-in exists to give bubble teams a shot — and tonight, two of them will earn exactly that…but they’re long shots regardless of who wins.