Last weekend, the 82-game NBA regular season came to a close with a flurry of meaningful games that finally decided which teams are in the 2025 playoffs, which teams are out, and which teams still have some tough work left in order to make the playoffs, where the games will get even tougher.
From April 15-18, toughness will prevail in the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament, where teams on the cusp compete in do-or-die games that will fill out the final 2025 NBA Playoff bracket. So how does it all work? Let’s take a closer look while we excitedly wait for the NBA to return to NBC next season.
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Who plays in the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament?
Tuesday, April 15
The first Play-In action features both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference’s 7th and 8th seeded teams. The top six teams are already in the Playoffs, and tonight, the winner of both games will be joining them.
The first game features the East’s 8-seed, the Atlanta Hawks, visiting the 7th-seeded Orlando Magic at 7:30 p.m. ET. The winner moves on to the NBA Playoff bracket, where they’ll be the 7-seed against the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series.
In the West, the 8th-seeded Memphis Grizzlies head to the Bay Area to face Steph Curry and the 7th-seeded Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET, where the winner will claim the No. 7 seed in the West, and face the Houston Rockets in a seven-game series.
So by Tuesday night, we’ll know 14 of the 16 teams in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Wednesday, April 16
As far as the last two teams, well, that’s going to take some more math, starting with the two Play-In games on Wednesday, April 16. First, at 7:30 p.m. ET the 10th-seeded Miami Heat travels to Chicago to face the 9th-seeded Bulls. The winner of that game faces the loser of the Tuesday night Eastern Conference Play-In game, while the loser goes golfing, as they’ll be officially eliminated.
In the West, starting at 10 p.m. ET, the 10th-seeded Dallas Mavericks visit the 9th-seeded Sacramento Kings. The winner goes on to face the loser of the previous night’s Western Conference Play-In game; the loser goes home.
Friday, April 18
We won’t officially know the final two Playoff spots until Friday, time to be determined, when the winner of the East’s 9/10 game faces the loser of the East’s 7/8 game. Then after that, the West’s 9/10 winner will face the West’s 7/8 loser. The winner of both games moves on to become the East and West’s 8-seed in the NBA Playoffs, while the losers go home. Got it?
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Which teams are in the 2025 NBA Playoffs?
Once the Play-In Tournament concludes, the real action heats up, with eight grueling seven-game series, four in the East, and four in the West. The higher-seeded team has home-court advantage in every series.
The Eastern Conference bracket for the 2025 NBA Playoffs
(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) TBD (see above) beginning Sunday, April 20, at a to-be-determined time.
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) TBD (see above) beginning Sunday, April 20, at a to-be-determined time.
(3) New York Knicks vs. (6) Detroit Pistons beginning Saturday, April 19, at 6 p.m. ET.
(4) Indiana Pacers vs. (5) Milwaukee Bucks beginning Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m. ET.
The Western Conference bracket for the 2025 NBA Playoffs
(1) Oklahoma City vs. (8) TBD (see above) beginning Sunday, April 20, at a to-be-determined time.
(2) Houston vs. (7) TBD (see above) beginning Sunday, April 20, at a to-be-determined time.
(3) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (6) Minnesota beginning Saturday, April 19, at 8:30 p.m. ET.
(4) Denver vs. (5) L.A. Clippers beginning Saturday, April 19, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
In both Conferences, the winner of the 1 vs 8 series faces the winner of the 4 vs. 5 series in the Conference semifinals, while the winner of the 2 vs. 7 series faces the winner of the 3 vs. 6 series in the other Conference semifinals, which begin May 5-6, but could move up to May 3-4, depending on how quickly the first round series go,
The winners of all the semifinal series will face off in the Eastern and Western Conference finals, respectively, beginning May 20-21, but could go as early as May 18-19.
Whoever wins both those series will face off in the 2025 NBA Finals, beginning June 5.
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When does the NBA return to NBC?
For more on this year’s NBA Playoffs, head over to NBC Sports!
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