NBA Playoff Bracket 2025 Round-by-Round Guide to the Postseason
The NBA postseason is upon us.
Twelve of the 16 teams in the postseason field are confirmed.
The final four positions will be handed during this week's play-in round, which will decide the No. 7 seeds in both conferences on Tuesday and the No. 8 seeds on Friday.
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors are the most notable team in the play-in round. They will get a chance to confirm the West's No. 7 seed at home on Tuesday.
The reigning champion Boston Celtics check in as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland, Boston and Oklahoma City all finished with over 60 regular-season wins and have to be viewed as the favorites to win the NBA Finals in June.
Play-in Round
1 of 4
April 15
Atlanta Hawks at Orlando Magic, 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT
Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m. ET on TNT
April 16
Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls, 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Dallas Mavericks at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. on ESPN
April 17
Eastern Conference Play-In, TBD
Western Conference Play-In, TBD
The play-in round begins on Tuesday with two matchups that will decide the No. 7 seeds.
Golden State hosts Memphis after the Orlando Magic welcome the Atlanta Hawks to central Florida.
The Warriors will be under the most pressure to win on Tuesday because of how tough the matchup with Oklahoma City could be for the experienced group.
Golden State would much rather play the second-seeded Houston Rockets in the opening round, and it can do so with a Tuesday win.
The Orlando-Atlanta winner is matched up with the Celtics in the first round.
Tuesday's losers will go up against Wednesday's winners on Friday for the two No. 8 seeds.
The Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks face off in the No. 9-versus-No. 10 game in the West, while the Chicago Bulls take on the Miami Heat in the East.
Friday's winners will be matched up with Cleveland and Oklahoma City in the opening round.
Opening Round
2 of 4
Start Date: April 19
Four opening-round matchups are already set.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will face off with the Indiana Pacers in what should be a high-scoring series in the East.
The New York Knicks should bank on their experience to get past the Detroit Pistons, who landed the No. 6 seed in the East as the biggest surprise in that conference.
Cade Cunningham and Co. will be the decided underdog against the Knicks and a lack of overall playoff experience could hurt Detroit.
LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers face the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers will struggle with the matchup against Rudy Gobert, but they should use their star power to get them through at least one round.
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are matched up with James Harden and the LA Clippers in what could be the most even first-round series.
The four best-of-seven winners in each conference move on to the conference semifinals.
Conference Semifinals & Finals
3 of 4
Start Dates:
Conference Semifinals: May 5-6
Conference Finals: May 20
Cleveland, Boston and OKC aren't expected to be challenged until the conference semifinals, or even the conference finals.
Cleveland and Boston were clearly ahead of the rest of the pack in the East and both teams will be expected to cruise through the first round.
The same should be said about the Thunder, as long as they avoid the Warriors in the first round.
OKC will face either Denver or the Clippers in the conference semifinals. Cleveland is bracketed against the Indiana-Milwaukee winner and Boston faces either New York or Detroit.
The Lakers-Wolves winner will likely face off with the Rockets, who carry less playoff experience than most squads in the West.
Cleveland and Boston seem destined for a mid-May meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, it's much harder to determine which teams land in the Western Conference Finals.
OKC and Houston were the two best teams in the regular season, but there are countless amounts of title-winning experience all throughout the West playoff bracket.
NBA Finals
4 of 4
Start Date: June 5
Boston is searching for the first repeat since Golden State's three-peat from 2017-19.
The Celtics are the No. 2 seed in the East, but they have the edge in title-winning experience over the Cavs.
Boston was only 3.5 games off Cleveland's top-seeded pace in the regular season, so the potential Eastern Conference Finals matchup could sway in the Celtics' favor.
Dallas won't make it back to the NBA Finals unless it goes on a historic run through the West, beginning in the play-in round.
Denver, Golden State and the Lakers hold an edge in playoff experience because of their recent Finals trips.
OKC was the best regular-season team in the West, but to face Boston or Cleveland, or another East team, it has to conquer the West bracket for the first time.
