NBA first round date set
Sports Illustrated reports that the NBA playoffs first round will begin on Saturday, April 18, and laid out key broadcast windows and dates. (si.com) The piece frames April 18 as the official start of the best‑of‑seven playoff sprint after the Play‑In finishes. (si.com)
The National Basketball Association playoffs open Saturday, April 18, after the Play-In Tournament wraps up on Friday, April 17. (nba.com) The league’s official postseason calendar lists the SoFi Play-In Tournament from Tuesday, April 14, through Friday, April 17, with the first round starting the next day. The regular season ended Sunday, April 12. (nba.com) Ten of the 16 playoff spots were locked in when the regular season closed, and the Play-In Tournament is set to decide the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference. The format pits teams seeded seventh through 10th in each conference for those final four berths. (nba.com) In the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons finished first at 60-22, followed by the Boston Celtics at 56-26 and the New York Knicks at 53-29. In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder led at 64-18 and the San Antonio Spurs followed at 62-20. (nba.com) The first round is the point when the postseason shifts from single-game survival to best-of-seven series, with eight matchups running across both conferences. That change means the bracket stops moving nightly and starts turning on travel, depth and adjustments over as many as seven games. (nba.com) The Play-In Tournament still carries the sharpest immediate stakes this week. The seventh-place team hosts the eighth-place team for the No. 7 seed, while the ninth-place team hosts the 10th-place team in an elimination game; the remaining teams then meet for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) As of Monday, April 13, the East play-in field included the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. The West play-in field included the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. (nba.com) The league’s schedule page shows two play-in games on April 14, two more on April 15, and the final two on April 17, with no games on April 16. That leaves one full day between the last play-in game and the start of the first round. (nba.com) Once the bracket is complete Friday night, the postseason moves into its main sprint Saturday — the start of four rounds that end with the National Basketball Association Finals in June. (nba.com)
