NBA playoff bracket set
The NBA postseason field is finalized: in the East the Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks clinched direct playoff spots, while Philadelphia, Orlando, Charlotte and Miami head to the play‑in. (sports.yahoo.com) In the West the Denver Nuggets secured the No. 3 seed and the Los Angeles Lakers landed at No. 4; the league also released Detroit’s first‑round Game 1 start time for the Pistons’ series. ( )
The 2026 National Basketball Association playoff bracket is set, with the play-in tournament opening April 14 and the first full playoff series starting April 18. (nba.com) In the Eastern Conference, Detroit drew the No. 1 seed and will open its first-round series on Sunday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern in Detroit. Boston is No. 2, New York is No. 3, Cleveland is No. 4, Toronto is No. 5 and Atlanta is No. 6. (nba.com) That leaves Philadelphia and Orlando in the East 7-versus-8 play-in game on Wednesday, April 15, with Charlotte and Miami meeting in the 9-versus-10 game on Tuesday, April 14. The winner of 7-versus-8 becomes the No. 7 seed; the loser gets one more game against the 9-versus-10 winner for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com; nba.com) In the Western Conference, Oklahoma City finished No. 1 and San Antonio No. 2, while Denver locked in No. 3 and the Los Angeles Lakers landed at No. 4. Denver opens against No. 6 Minnesota on Saturday, April 18, and the Lakers open against No. 5 Houston later that night. (nba.com) The West play-in field is Phoenix at No. 7, Portland at No. 8, the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 9 and Golden State at No. 10. Phoenix hosts Portland on April 14, and the Clippers host Golden State on April 15. (nba.com; nba.com) The bracket is fixed because the regular season ended on Sunday, April 12, when all 30 teams played. The league’s playoff calendar then shifts immediately into the four-day play-in round before the best-of-seven first round begins. (nba.com) The first-round matchups already set are Toronto at Cleveland and Atlanta at New York in the East, plus Minnesota at Denver and Houston at the Lakers in the West. Detroit, Boston, Oklahoma City and San Antonio are waiting on play-in winners to fill the final four spots. (nba.com) If any teams had finished tied in the standings, the National Basketball Association would have broken those ties first with head-to-head record, then division-winner status, then conference and playoff-team records. Those rules are what turn Sunday’s final standings into the official bracket. (nba.com) The next games that count are the play-in openers on Tuesday, April 14, and by Friday, April 17, all 16 playoff spots will be filled. By then, the bracket that locked Sunday will finally have every opponent attached to it. (nba.com)
