NBA Playoffs Kick Off
- The NBA postseason began on April 18, with Round 1 now officially underway across both conferences. - CBS Sports shows game times mapped through May 3, locking a daily first‑round schedule for viewers. - That schedule means every first‑round series will play out on a fixed rhythm over the next two weeks, with early storylines emerging now. (espn.com) (cbssports.com)
The National Basketball Association playoffs opened Saturday, April 18, and the first round is now on a day-by-day schedule through Sunday, May 3. (nba.com) The league’s play-in tournament ran April 14-17, filling the final two seeds in each conference before the bracket locked for eight best-of-seven series. (nba.com) The first four Game 1s were played Saturday: Cleveland beat Toronto 126-113, Denver beat Minnesota 116-105, New York beat Atlanta 112-102, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Houston 107-98. (cbssports.com) Sunday brought four more openers. Boston beat Philadelphia 123-91, Oklahoma City beat Phoenix 119-84, Detroit hosted Orlando, and San Antonio was set to host Portland. (espn.com ) The bracket spans two conferences, with Detroit, Boston, New York and Cleveland on the East side and Oklahoma City, Golden State, Denver and San Antonio on the West side. Home-court advantage goes to the team with the better regular-season record. (espn.com) Each first-round matchup uses the NBA’s 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. That means the calendar is fixed early, even though later games in a series are only played if needed. (espn.com) CBS Sports’ published schedule maps first-round game windows through May 3, which is the latest possible end date for Round 1. That gives viewers a set nightly slate for the next two weeks. (cbssports.com) The postseason then moves into the conference semifinals on May 5-6, with the conference finals scheduled to begin May 19-20. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is set for June 4. (nba.com) For now, the playoffs are in their simplest stage: 16 teams, eight series, and Game 1 results already shaping who starts the next week ahead and who is chasing it. (nba.com)
