The 2025 NBA playoffs have arrived. The bracket is set and the postseason schedule gets started Tuesday night with the Warriors among the teams in Play-In Tournament action. We know four first-round playoff matchups right now: Knicks vs. Pistons and Pacers vs. Bucks in the East, and Lakers vs. Timberwolves and Nuggets vs. Clippers in the West. All four of those series will tip off on Saturday. The other four first-round matchups, featuring the Cavaliers, Celtics, Thunder, Rockets and four winners from the Play-In Tournament, will get started on Sunday, April 20.
The Clippers beat the Warriors in the final game of the day on Sunday to clinch the last playoff spot in the West. The loss sent the Warriors to the Play-In Tournament, where Stephen Curry and Co. will face the Grizzlies on Tuesday night. The Nuggets and Timberwolves also clinched their own playoff spots on Sunday, beating the Rockets and Jazz, respectively.
The first round could run through May 4. The NBA Finals are set to begin June 5.
All 10 Eastern Conference seeds were locked in before Sunday’s action. The No. 1 Cavaliers and No. 2 Celtics will have to wait to see who comes out of the Play-In Tournament to face them in the first round. With the first-round matchups set, let’s take a look at the 2025 NBA playoff bracket.
2025 NBA playoff bracket
CBS Sports design
East first-round matchups
No. 1 Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Magic/Hawks/Bulls/Heat
No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Magic/Hawks
No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Pistons
No. 4 Pacers vs. No. 5 Bucks
West first-round matchups
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Warriors/Grizzlies/Kings/Mavericks
No. 2 Rockets vs. No. 7 Warriors/Grizzlies
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Timberwolves
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Clippers
And here are the final regular-season standings.
Eastern Conference standings
Western Conference standings
| Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City – x | 68 | 14 |
| 2 | Houston – x | 52 | 30 |
| 3 | L.A. Lakers – x | 50 | 32 |
| 4 | Denver – x | 50 | 32 |
| 5 | L.A. Clippers – x | 50 | 32 |
| 6 | Minnesota – x | 49 | 33 |
| — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Golden St. | 48 | 34 |
| 8 | Memphis | 48 | 34 |
| 9 | Sacramento | 40 | 42 |
| 10 | Dallas | 39 | 43 |
x = clinched playoff spot
As a reminder: the top six teams in each conference automatically get spots in the 16-team playoff field. The final four playoff spots will be determined by the Play-In Tournament, which will feature Nos. 7-10 in each conference. The seventh-place team hosts the eight-place team to earn the No. 7 seed. The loser of that game will face the winner of a game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams for the No. 8 seed.
Tiebreakers
The Lakers, Nuggets and Clippers all finished with 50-32 records. The Warriors and Grizzlies were both 48-34. The Lakers and Grizzlies won those tiebreakers. Here’s how NBA playoff tiebreakers work:
In the event of a two-way tie, the team that won the season series gets the higher seed. If they split the season series and one of the teams won its division, the division winner gets the higher seed. If that doesn’t resolve the tie, then the tiebreakers are, in order: division record (if the teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
In the event that more than two teams are tied, the tiebreakers are, in order: division winner, record against tied teams, division record (if all tied teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
2025 NBA playoffs: Key dates
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