NBA opening‑weekend slate
The NBA first round begins Saturday, April 18, with a full opening‑weekend slate that includes Bucks at Cavaliers (1 p.m. ET), 76ers at Celtics (3:30 p.m. ET), Timberwolves at Nuggets (6 p.m. ET), and Rockets at Lakers (8:30 p.m. ET) (cbssports.com). The schedule continues Sunday with Hawks at Knicks and other matchups as the postseason proper follows the play‑in games (cbssports.com) (usatoday.com).
The National Basketball Association playoffs move from the play-in to the first round this weekend, with four Game 1s on Saturday, April 18, and four more on Sunday, April 19. (nba.com) Saturday’s opener is Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers at 1 p.m. Eastern, followed by Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks at 6 p.m. Eastern, and Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. (nba.com) Sunday’s schedule starts with the Philadelphia 76ers at Boston Celtics at 1 p.m. Eastern, then the No. 8 seed at Oklahoma City Thunder at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, the No. 8 seed at Detroit Pistons at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Portland Trail Blazers at San Antonio Spurs at 9 p.m. Eastern. The two East and West No. 8 seeds were still being decided by Friday’s final play-in games. (nba.com) The play-in tournament runs from April 14 through April 17 and fills the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference. Teams that finished seventh through 10th in the regular season play for those last two spots, while seeds one through six advanced directly to the bracket. (nba.com) The bracket already shows several set matchups beyond the weekend tipoff: Cavaliers-Raptors, Knicks-Hawks, Celtics-76ers in the East, and Lakers-Rockets, Nuggets-Timberwolves, and Spurs-Trail Blazers in the West. Oklahoma City and Detroit are waiting on the last play-in winners. (nba.com) The schedule also locks in the next turn of each series quickly. Game 2s for Cavaliers-Raptors, Knicks-Hawks, and Nuggets-Timberwolves are on April 20, while Celtics-76ers, Spurs-Trail Blazers, and Lakers-Rockets resume on April 21. (nba.com) This is the postseason proper after an 82-game regular season, and the format returns to best-of-seven series in every round. The first round starts April 18, the conference finals are scheduled to begin May 19 and May 20, and Game 1 of the National Basketball Association Finals is set for June 3. (nba.com) The weekend also sets up a bracket with new top seeds in both conferences. The Thunder finished 64-18 to take the West’s No. 1 seed, while the Pistons finished 60-22 to claim the East’s top spot, according to the league’s playoff bracket. (nba.com) By late Friday, the last play-in results will complete the field. Less than 24 hours later, eight first-round series will be underway and the two-month run to the June 3 Finals opener will have started. (nba.com)
