{"id":589631,"date":"2026-04-06T18:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/589631\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:28:08","slug":"when-do-the-nba-playoffs-start-key-dates-schedule-and-more-for-2026-play-in-round-1-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/589631\/","title":{"rendered":"When do the NBA playoffs start? Key dates, schedule and more for 2026 Play-In, Round 1 games"},"content":{"rendered":"

In just a few short weeks, the NBA playoffs will arrive. With it comes a plethora of storylines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> look to be the favorites to repeat another title. After winning it all in 2025, the Thunder are on pace to finish with NBA’s best regular-season record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Standing in their way in the West are the upstart San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, the only team that can still catch OKC in the regular season standings, as well as veteran powerhouses in the Lakers<\/a> and Nuggets<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons<\/a> have already clinched a regular-season conference title. However, they haven’t escaped the opening round since 2008, which could pose an uphill battle<\/p>\n

Alas, the NBA has released much of its playoff schedule, so let’s take a closer look.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SN’s NBA HQ:\u00a0Live NBA scores<\/a> | Updated NBA standings<\/a>\u00a0| Full NBA schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

When do the 2026 NBA playoffs start?\u00a0Start:\u00a0Saturday, April 18<\/p>\n

The quarterfinals of each conference will tip off on Saturday, April 18. However, first comes the Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n

Each team seeded 7-10 in its respective conference standings will have a shot to earn a playoff bid. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, however, just need to win one of two games, while the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds will need back-to-back victories to secure their spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE: Sporting News’ latest NBA Mock Draft after March Madness<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NBA Play-In Tournament\u00a0Tuesday, April 14 (Times TBD)\u00a0East 7 vs. East 8 (winner advances to playoffs as No. 7 seed), Prime Video<\/a>West 7 vs. West 8 (winner advances to playoffs as No. 7 seed), Prime VideoWednesday, April 15 (Times TBD)\u00a0East 9 vs. East 10 (loser is eliminated), Prime VideoWest 9 vs. West 10 (loser is eliminated), Prime VideoFriday, April 18 (Times TBD)\u00a0East 7\/8 loser vs. East 9\/10 winner (winner advances to playoffs as No. 8 seed), Prime VideoWest 7\/8 loser vs. West 9\/10 winner (winner advances to playoffs as No. 8 seed), Prime VideoWhen are the 2026 NBA Finals?\u00a0Wednesday, June 3:\u00a0Game 1 of the 2026\u00a0NBA Finals\u00a0<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Tracking NBA award eligibility for Cade Cunningham, more<\/a><\/p>\n

NBA playoff schedule<\/p>\n

At the moment, the NBA has released anticipated start dates for each round. However, there is no certain confirmation on the exact dates or start times until the NBA Finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conference Semifinals<\/p>\n

When:\u00a0May 4\u00a0(but the NBA notes that these can move up to May 2 or 3)<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference Finals<\/p>\n

When:\u00a0May 19\u00a0(but the NBA notes that these can move up to May 17)<\/p>\n

Where: ESPN and ABC<\/p>\n

Western Conference Finals\u00a0<\/p>\n

When:\u00a0May 20\u00a0(but the NBA notes that these can move up to May 18)<\/p>\n

Where: NBC and Peacock<\/p>\n

NBA Finals ScheduleGameDateTimeTV Channel1June 38:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC2June 58:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC3June 88:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC4June 108:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC5June 138:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC (if necessary)6June 168:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC (if necessary)7June 198:30 p.m.\u00a0ETABC (if necessary)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In just a few short weeks, the NBA playoffs will arrive. With it comes a plethora of storylines.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-589631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}