How Do The NBA Playoffs Work? Bracket, Format, Start & Schedule – NBA Playoffs Explained

The NBA Playoffs begin on April 19, 2025, the day after the NBA Play-In Tournament (which runs from April 15-18) ends.

The NBA regular season ends on April 13, and every team’s playoff roster needs to be set by April 14.

There’s nearly a week between the end of the regular season and the start of the NBA postseason. In between, the No. 7-10 seeds in each conference participate in the Play-In Tournament to determine the final two playoff teams (No. 7 and 8 seeds) in each conference.

Sixteen teams make the NBA Playoffs, eight from each conference.

The top six teams based on regular-season record in each conference automatically make the playoffs as seeds 1-6. The No. 7 and 8 seeds are determined based on the winners of the NBA Play-In Tournament, which features the No. 7-10 seeds in both conferences.

Once the No. 7 and 8 seeds are set, all 16 playoff teams compete in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, with each matchup being a best-of-7 series. There are no byes.

The No. 1 seed plays the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed plays the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed plays the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed plays the No. 5 seed.

The number of games in the NBA Playoffs varies depending on how the series play out. Each matchup is a best-of-seven series, so series can last 4-7 games depending on how quickly each team gets to four wins.

With the current format, the number of NBA playoff games ranges from a minimum of 60 to a maximum of 105. If all 15 series ended in sweeps, there’d be only 60 games. If every series went the full seven games, there’d be 105 games.

Individual teams can play between four games (if they get swept in the first round) and 28 games (if they win the Finals and play seven games in every series).

The 2007-08 Boston Celtics hold the record for the most games played in a postseason at 26, as they won two seven-game series and two six-game series en route to winning their 17th NBA title.

"ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!"

16 years ago today, the Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA Finals and Kevin Garnett delivered this ICONIC line in his postgame interview 🗣️🏆pic.twitter.com/HEviWlbFxR

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 17, 2024

Under the current NBA postseason format, the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors needed the fewest games to win a championship. They only lost one game throughout their title run, going 16-1 in the NBA Playoffs.

While it’s technically not a part of the NBA Playoffs, the playoff field is set after the Play-In Tournament, which is held in the days before the playoff starts. The Play-In Tournament is broken down as follows:

• Each conference’s No. 9 seed hosts the No. 10 seed for one game. The winners advance to the final stage of the Play-In Tournament and the losers are eliminated.
• Each conference’s No. 7 seed hosts the No. 8 seed for one game. The winners secure the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, while the losers play the winners of the 9/10 matchups.
• The losers of the 7/8 matchups host the winners of the 9/10 matchups. The winners secure the No. 8 seed in the playoffs and the losing teams are eliminated.

NBA Playoffs Seeding

The playoff seeding is determined by how a team does during the regular season. The team with the best record gets the No. 1 seed, the team with the second best record gets the No. 2 seed and so on. Unlike some other sports, the NBA playoff bracket is fixed, which means teams are never reseeded. In the NFL, the bracket changes based on the outcomes of the previous rounds since the highest-remaining seed always faces the lowest-remaining seed. That’s not the case in the NBA, as the bracket stays how it is regardless of outcome.

NBA Playoffs First Round

The first-round matchups are the same every year and are as follows:

• No. 8 seed vs. No. 1 seed
• No. 7 seed vs. No. 2 seed
• No. 6 seed vs. No. 3 seed
• No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed

This round, like all rounds of the NBA Playoffs, is a best-of-seven series. The NBA playoffs have a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning that the team with home-court advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7. The opponent hosts games 3, 4, and 6. Games 5, 6, and 7 are only played if needed.

NBA Conference Semifinals

Both conference semifinals have the same format:

• Winner of 8/1 matchup vs. winner of 5/4 matchup
• Winner of 6/3 matchup vs. winner of 7/2 matchup

NBA Conference Finals

The Conference Finals consist of the four winners of the semifinal matchups, with the winner advancing to the NBA Finals. Here’s how it looked in 2023-24:

NBA Eastern Conference Finals

• No. 4 Dallas 4, No. 3 Minnesota 1

NBA Western Conference Finals

• No. 1 Boston 4, No. 6 Indiana 0

NBA Finals

The NBA Finals is between the winner of the Eastern Conference versus the winner of the Western Conference. Here’s how it looked in 2023-24:

• Boston 4, Dallas 1

The 2025 NBA Finals will begin on June 5, 2025. It will begin in the home city of the Finals team with home-court advantage. While home-court advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs is determined by seeding, the team with the better regular-season record gets home-court advantage in the Finals.

While the full schedule won’t be announced until the regular season is over, we do know some key dates from the playoffs.

• April 13: NBA regular season ends.
• April 14: Playoff rosters are finalized (3 p.m. ET)
• April 15-18: NBA Play-In Tournament
• April 19: NBA Playoffs begin
• May 5-6: Conference Semifinals begin
• Late May: Conference Finals begin
• June 5: NBA Finals begin

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