NBA Playoff Schedule 2021: Round-by-Round Dates, TV and Live-Stream Guide

The 2021 NBA playoffs are finally here.

Well, almost here, actually.

Before the 16-team trek officially gets underway, the field must be thinned during this week's play-in tournament. Four teams are fighting for the final two postseason spots in each conference, so the top two seeds don't know who they're facing yet.

However, the excitement of win-or-go-fishing basketball has arrived, and hoop junkies will want to devour every last second of it.

That's why we're providing this handy scheduling and broadcasting guide, followed by our play-in tournament predictions.

Schedule Info and Broadcast Guide

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While much of the playoff calendar is still to be determined, there are a few key dates to keep in mind.

The first round will tip off this Saturday, and the NBA Finals will be completed no later than July 22. The other round-by-round dates will be set at a later date and found at NBA.com.

Before all of that gets going, the play-in tournament will be played out, and that schedule is set as follows.

Tuesday, May 18

Game 1 (East): No. 9 Indiana Pacers vs. No. 10 Charlotte Hornets, 6:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 2 (East): No. 7 Boston Celtics vs. No. 8 Washington Wizards, 9 p.m. ET on TNT

Wednesday, May 19

Game 3 (West): No. 9 Memphis Grizzlies vs. No. 10 San Antonio Spurs, 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Game 4: (West): No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m. ET on ESPN

Thursday, May 20

East: Winner of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 8 p.m. ET on TNT

Friday, May 21

West: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, TBD on ESPN

NBA playoff games will be split between ESPN and TNT, while the NBA Finals will air on ABC. ESPN and ABC games will stream on ESPN+, while TNT broadcasts will be available on Watch TNT.

East Play-In Predictions

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

The Pacers and Hornets might both be surprised to be here, though for different reasons.

Indiana probably had higher expectations than clawing for the eighth seed, while Charlotte came into this campaign lacking any expectations at all (from the outside, at least).

Give the Hornets a healthy Gordon Hayward and a pre-injury LaMelo Ball, and they might be the pick; but with no Hayward and a rusty Ball (15.1 points on .384/.244/.667 shooting since his return), Charlotte might be dead in the water.

The Hornets have serious issues on the interior, which is the last thing you'd want when facing All-Star center Domantas Sabonis, a nightly supplier of 20.3 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists. Add in the possibility of the Pacers getting 20-point scorer Malcolm Brogdon back, and all signs point to them protecting their home floor.

The Celtics and Wizards, meanwhile, are heading opposite directions.

Boston limps into this game with no Jaylen Brown (wrist surgery) and 10 losses over its final 13 games. Washington, meanwhile, closed the campaign on a 17-6 tear with Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook forming one of the Association's most potent backcourt connections. The Wizards should get this game, maybe in lopsided fashion.

That would set up a Thursday showdown between the Pacers and Celtics, which could be where Boston finally rights the ship. Indiana doesn't have an offensive weapon on the same level as Jayson Tatum, and if the Shamrocks squeeze enough support scoring out of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, they'll buy a ticket to the first round.

West Play-In Predictions

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Start popping your popcorn now, folks.

A play-in clash between the Lakers and Warriors is a broadcaster's dream come true. LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry has been a defining rivalry of this generation, and Draymond Green emptying the defensive toolbox against Anthony Davis is the juiciest kind of subplot.

As long as James' nagging ankle injury doesn't flare up, though, L.A.'s size and star power might be more than Golden State can handle. Curry might be the scoring champion, but the Lakers have the NBA's best defense. They'll make him work for everything he gets and bet that his supporting cast can't make them pay.

While the Warriors have the fifth-best defense, they don't have a good answer for James and Davis. (To be fair, very few teams do, if any.) If the Lakers' stars stay upright, their squad will advance to the seventh seed.

It might seem tempting to take San Antonio over Memphis given the franchise's respective histories, but recent trends are working against the Spurs. While they dropped 10 of their final 12 games, the Grizzlies closed the campaign with five wins in their last six outings. DeMar DeRozan could make things interesting, but Ja Morant will make enough plays for Memphis to survive.

This would set up the second Warriors-Grizzlies game this week, and it could play out much like the first.

On Sunday, with the eighth seed on the line, Golden State secured a 12-point triumph behind a brilliant 46-point, nine-assist performance from Curry. The Grizzlies don't have the firepower to keep up, especially if they also have trouble containing Andrew Wiggins again (21-point, 10-rebound double-double in the finale).