How it Works
The playoffs officially begin April 18, but first, eight bubble teams have to fight for their lives (too dramatic?) in the NBA Play-In Tournament, which runs April 14-17. Think of the play-in as the NBA's way of saying "we see you, kind of" to teams that finished 7th through 10th in their conference. Win and you're in. Lose and you're watching from the couch like the rest of us.
Once the bracket is locked in, 16 teams compete in a best-of-seven series format all the way through the NBA Finals.
The first team to have four wins in each series advances.
Home court advantage goes to the higher seed, meaning their fans get to be loud and insufferable in their own building first — and, if things go sideways, potentially last.
Teams Everyone Is Talking About
Out West, the Oklahoma City Thunder enter as the No. 1 seed and the San Antonio Spurs locked up the No. 2 spot, followed by the Denver Nuggets at No. 3 and the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 4. The Thunder are the reigning NBA champions and the Spurs pulled off one of the more shocking turnarounds in recent memory, going from perennial draft-lottery regulars to legitimate contenders seemingly overnight.
In the East, the Detroit Pistons hold the No. 1 seed, with the Boston Celtics right behind them at No. 2, the New York Knicks at No. 3 and the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 4. The Pistons finishing atop the East with 60 wins is the kind of thing that would have gotten you laughed out of a sports bar two seasons ago. Detroit being this good again has an old-school feel to it, reminiscent of the late '80s bad boys teams that made opposing guards fear for their safety every night.
The Player to Watch
Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the NBA Finals MVP last June, capping one of the most individually dominant seasons the league has seen in years. He became only the fourth player in NBA history to win the regular-season MVP, Finals MVP and scoring title all in the same year, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal on that very short list of basketball kings. Now heading into his second consecutive playoff run as the face of the best team in the West, the Canadian guard is the most compelling must-watch in the bracket.
The Play-In Fun You Simply Cannot Miss
This year's Eastern play-in features the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, while the West sends out the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors.
The play-in format means the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds square off first; the winner is in and the loser gets one more shot against the winner of the 9-10 game. Lose that second game and your season is over. Miami has been here enough times to know what they're doing and Golden State fans are operating entirely on nostalgia and prayer at this point.
First-Round Matchups Worth Your Attention
The locked-in first-round matchups already have some exciting pairings. In the East, the Knicks face the Atlanta Hawks, while the Cavaliers take on the Toronto Raptors. Out West, the Nuggets draw the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Lakers square off against the Houston Rockets.
The Nuggets versus Timberwolves is a rematch that both fan bases have complicated feelings about. Anthony Edwards against Nikola Jokic is the kind of star-on-star drama that makes the first round appointment television rather than background noise. The Rockets, led by a young, surging core, rolling into a playoff series against LeBron James and the Lakers is the sort of thing that writes its own storyline.
How to Sound Like You Know What You're Talking About
A few things to memorize before you show up to your buddy’s watch party. Home court advantage matters. The crowd noise in a Game 6 or 7 is a totally different kind of energy, and the team that earned the better record gets to feed off it. A series "going seven" means both teams pushed it to the absolute limit before someone finally blinked. Also: a sweep, where one team wins all four games, is a downright brutal loss. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
Finally, the one rule that separates casual viewers from people who actually get it is to ignore the regular season reputation and watch what happens in April, May, and June. Teams that looked invincible in February can go cold. Role players often become heroes. Coaches get outcoached. The Thunder are entering as favorites, with the Spurs and Celtics close behind, but the bracket has a long and beautiful history of making experts look absolutely foolish.