{"id":603655,"date":"2026-04-13T07:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603655\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T07:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:37:18","slug":"2026-nba-playoffs-schedule-scores-news-and-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603655\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NBA playoffs: Schedule, scores, news and highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NBA playoffs<\/a> are set to begin Saturday, rolling all the way until the middle of June. It’s sure to be an exciting run toward the NBA Finals, which begin June 3 and will be broadcast by ABC.<\/p>\n

Can the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, who locked in their third straight 1-seed in the Western Conference, repeat as champions? Which team will emerge from a crowded East field? Could there be upsets throughout the field?<\/p>\n

But the playoff bracket isn’t set just yet. The play-in tournament begins Tuesday, with the Nos. 7 through 10 seeds playing to determine which teams get to face the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in each conference.<\/p>\n

After the play-in tournament concludes Friday, the playoffs begin with four games Saturday. Eight teams from each conference reach the first round and face off in a best-of-seven series to advance. All four rounds of the playoffs are best of seven, and teams are not reseeded after each round. The team with the better regular-season record in each series will have home-court advantage for that series. All series are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the team with the better record hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7.<\/p>\n

Here’s what we know about the Eastern and Western Conference playoff brackets:<\/p>\n

Full NBA playoff bracket<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

1. Detroit Pistons<\/a> vs. 8. Play-in winner TBD
2. Boston Celtics<\/a> vs. 7. Play-in winner TBD
3. New York Knicks<\/a> vs. 6. Atlanta Hawks<\/a>
4. Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> vs. 5. Toronto Raptors<\/a><\/p>\n

Eastern Conference play-in<\/p>\n

7. Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> vs. 8. Orlando Magic<\/a>
9. Charlotte Hornets<\/a> vs. 10. Miami Heat<\/a>
Loser 7\/8 vs. Winner 9\/10<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

1. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> vs. 8. Play-in winner TBD
2. San Antonio Spurs<\/a> vs. 7. Play-in winner TBD
3. Denver Nuggets<\/a> vs. 6. Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>
4. Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> vs. 5. Houston Rockets<\/a><\/p>\n

Western Conference play-in<\/p>\n

7. Phoenix Suns<\/a> vs. 8. Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>
9. LA Clippers<\/a> vs. 10. Golden State Warriors<\/a>
Loser 7\/8 vs. Winner 9\/10<\/p>\n

Full NBA playoff bracket\u00a0Full NBA playoff bracketPlay-in tournament schedule<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

(8) Orlando Magic<\/a> at (7) Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

(10) Miami Heat<\/a> at (9) C<\/a>harlotte Hornets<\/a>
Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Winner 9\/10 at Loser 7\/8
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

(8) Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> at (7) Phoenix Suns<\/a>
Tuesday, 10 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

(10) Golden State Warriors<\/a> at (9) LA Clippers<\/a>
Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET <\/p>\n

Winner 9\/10 at 7\/8 Loser
Friday, 10 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

How the games will work:<\/p>\n

Game 1s: Each conference’s No. 7 team in the standings will host the No. 8 team, with the winner earning the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The losing teams get another chance in their respective conference’s Game 3.<\/p>\n

Game 2s: Each conference’s No. 9 team will host the No. 10 team, with the winner moving on to Game 3. The losers are eliminated and enter the NBA draft lottery.<\/p>\n

Game 3s: The losers of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 matchups will host the winners of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 matchups, with the victors grabbing each conference’s No. 8 seed in the postseason. The losers of Game 3 enter the NBA draft lottery.<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference first round\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at Detroit on Sunday, April 19, 6:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: at Detroit
Game 3: at Play-in winner
Game 4: at Play-in winner
Game 5 (if necessary): at Detroit
Game 6 (if necessary): at Play-in winner
Game 7 (if necessary): at Detroit<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at Boston on Sunday, April 19, 1 p.m. ET
Game 2: at Boston
Game 3: at Play-in winner
Game 4: at Play-in winner
Game 5 (if necessary): at Boston
Game 6 (if necessary): at Play-in winner
Game 7 (if necessary): at Boston<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at New York on Saturday, 6 p.m. ET
Game 2: at New York
Game 3: at Atlanta
Game 4: at Atlanta
Game 5 (if necessary): at New York
Game 6 (if necessary): at Atlanta
Game 7 (if necessary): at New York<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at Cleveland on Saturday, 1 p.m. ET
Game 2: at Cleveland
Game 3: at Toronto
Game 4: at Toronto
Game 5 (if necessary): at Cleveland
Game 6 (if necessary): at Toronto
Game 7 (if necessary): at Cleveland<\/p>\n

Western Conference first round\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at Oklahoma City on Sunday, April 19, 3:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: at Oklahoma City
Game 3: at Play-in winner
Game 4: at Play-in winner
Game 5 (if necessary): at Oklahoma City
Game 6 (if necessary): at Play-in winner
Game 7 (if necessary): at Oklahoma City<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at San Antonio on Sunday, April 19, 9 p.m. ET
Game 2: at San Antonio
Game 3: at Play-in winner
Game 4: at Play-in winner
Game 5 (if necessary): at San Antonio
Game 6 (if necessary): at Play-in winner
Game 7 (if necessary): at San Antonio<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at Denver on Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: at Denver
Game 3: at Minnesota
Game 4: at Minnesota
Game 5 (if necessary): at Denver
Game 6 (if necessary): at Minnesota
Game 7 (if necessary): at Denver<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Game 1: at Los Angeles on Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: at Los Angeles
Game 3: at Houston
Game 4: at Houston
Game 5 (if necessary): at Los Angeles
Game 6 (if necessary): at Houston
Game 7 (if necessary): at Los Angeles<\/p>\n

NBA Finals schedule<\/p>\n

The 2026 NBA Finals will begin Wednesday, June 3, with each game tipping off at 8:30 p.m. ET. ABC will broadcast each game.<\/p>\n

Game 1: Wednesday, June 3
Game 2: Friday, June 5
Game 3: Monday, June 8
Game 4: Wednesday, June 10
Game 5 (if necessary): Saturday, June 13
Game 6 (if necessary): Tuesday, June 16
Game 7 (if necessary): Friday, June 19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NBA playoffs are set to begin Saturday, rolling all the way until the middle of June.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-603655","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\/603655","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=603655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}