Play‑In Sets NBA Bracket
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers in the play‑in while the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Orlando Magic 109–97 to secure the East’s No. 7 seed. With those results the NBA’s first‑round matchups are now locked and the league moves into its opening playoff schedule. (sports.yahoo.com) (usatoday.com) (espn.com)
The National Basketball Association playoff bracket is now set after Philadelphia took the East’s No. 7 seed and Golden State grabbed the West’s final opening-round spot on Wednesday night. (nba.com) Philadelphia beat Orlando 109-97 behind 31 points from Tyrese Maxey and moved into a first-round series against the Boston Celtics. Golden State erased a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121, with Stephen Curry scoring 35 points. (nba.com) The play-in tournament decides the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference by matching teams that finished seventh through 10th in the regular season. The National Basketball Association says the play-in runs April 14-17, and the first round starts April 18. (nba.com) In the East, the Detroit Pistons are the No. 1 seed, followed by the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers at the top of the bracket. The locked first-round matchups are Pistons versus the No. 8 seed, Celtics versus 76ers, Knicks versus Hawks, and Cavaliers versus Raptors. (nba.com) In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder earned the No. 1 seed and the San Antonio Spurs are No. 2. The confirmed series are Thunder versus the No. 8 seed, Spurs versus the No. 7 seed Trail Blazers, Nuggets versus Timberwolves, and Lakers versus Rockets. (nba.com) One West play-in result had already been decided before Wednesday: Portland beat Phoenix to claim the No. 7 seed, sending the Trail Blazers into the Spurs matchup and dropping the Suns into the final game for the No. 8 spot. In the East, Charlotte eliminated Miami in the 9-versus-10 game and now meets Orlando for the last playoff berth. (nba.com) The league’s official schedule says the first round opens Saturday, April 18, and Game 1 of the 2026 National Basketball Association Finals is set for June 3. The bracket will not change after the play-in because the league does not reseed teams between rounds. (nba.com)
