2024 NBA Playoff Bracket: Current Playoffs game format

NBA Playoff Bracket 2021
NBA Playoff Bracket

The 2024 NBA Playoff bracket is now fully set, postseason games are set to begin on Saturday, April 20 and the NBA Finals on Thursday, June 6.

There will be a total of 16 teams of 32 competing in the NBA playoffs for the 2024 championships, where six top-seeded teams from each conference will clinch the postseason spot directly, and seeds 7 through 10 from each conference will clinch the playoff birth in the NBA play-in tournaments from April 16-19, 2024 for determining seed 7 and 8. Check out your favorite team’s playoff chances.

Here is how the East conference and West conference brackets shook out, from round one through the NBA championship-stay up to date.

Eastern Conference for the 2023-2024 season

  1. Boston Celtics (53-14)
  2. Milwaukee Bucks (44-24)
  3. Cleveland Cavaliers (42-25)
  4. New York Knicks (40-27)
  5. Orlando Magic (40-28)
  6. Indiana Pacers (38-30)

NBA Play-In Tournament:

  1. Philadelphia 76ers (37-30)
  2. Miami Heat (37-30)
  3. Chicago Bulls (33-35)
  4. Atlanta Hawks (30-37)

Western Conference for the 2023-2024 season

  1. Oklahoma City Thunder (47-20)
  2. Denver Nuggets (47-20)
  3. Minnesota Timberwolves (46-21)
  4. Los Angeles Clippers (42-25)
  5. New Orleans Pelicans (41-26)
  6. Sacramento Kings (38-28)

NBA Play-In Tournament game:

  1. Dallas Mavericks (39-29)
  2. Phoenix Suns (39-29)
  3. Golden State Warriors (35-31)
  4. Los Angeles Lakers (36-32)

2023 NBA Finals Results

  • Congratulations Denver Nuggets on winning the 2023 NBA Finals.

(1) Denver Nuggets vs (8) Miami Heat (DEN Wins 4-1)

2023 Western Conference Finals

(1) Denver Nuggets vs (7) LA Lakers (43-39) (DEN Wins 4-0)

2023 Eastern Conference Finals

(8) Miami Heat (44-38) vs (2) Boston Celtics (57-25) (MIA Wins 4-3)

2023 Eastern Conference Playoffs Semifinals

(5) New York Knicks (47-35) vs (8) Miami Heat (44-38) (MIA Wins 4-2)
(2) Boston Celtics (57-25) vs (3) Philadelphia 76ers (54-28) (Series Tied 3-3)

2023 Western Conference Playoffs Semifinals

(1) Denver Nuggets (53-29) vs (4) Phoenix Suns (45-37) (DEN Wins 4-2)
(6) Golden State Warriors (44-38) vs (7) LA Lakers (43-39) (LAL Wins 4-2)

Eastern Conference Playoffs Round 1

  1. Milwaukee Bucks (58-24) vs 8. Miami Heat (44-38) (MIA Wins 4-1)
  2. Boston Celtics (57-25) vs 7. Atlanta Hawks (41-41) (BOS Wins 4-2)
  3. Philadelphia 76ers (54-28) vs. 6. Brooklyn Nets (45-37) (PHI Wins 4-0)
  4. Cleveland Cavaliers (51-31) vs 5. New York Knicks (47-35) (NYK Wins 4-1)

Western Conference Playoffs Round 1

  1. Denver Nuggets (53-29) vs 8. Minnesota Timberwolves (42-40) (DEN Wins 4-1)
  2. Memphis Grizzlies (51-31) vs 7. LA Lakers (43-39) (LAL Wins 4-2)
  3. Sacramento Kings (48-34) vs 6. Golden State Warriors (44-38) (GSW Wins 4-3)
  4. Phoenix Suns (45-37) vs 5. LA Clippers (44-38) (PHX Wins 4-1)

NBA Playoffs 2024 tentative dates

2024 NBA Playoffs start: Saturday, April 20
NBA Finals Game 1: June 6, 2024

How does the NBA Playoff bracket work?

The 16-team playoffs have followed the same format since 2016 with the top eight teams in each conference advancing to the postseason. Here’s a guide that helps you to know how the NBA Playoffs format does work.

In each conference (Eastern and Western), the top eight teams are ranked in order by win-loss record. The team with the best record is seeded No. 1, the next best is No. 2, and so on. Any ties are broken using head-to-head results as the first tiebreaker criteria followed by whether a team won its division.

The seeds are used to create a playoff bracket that determines all of the matchups throughout the entire tournament. In the first round, the top seed, No. 1, faces the No. 8 seed. No. 2 plays No. 7, No. 3 faces No. 6, and No. 4 takes on No. 5.

The higher-seeded team always has the home-court advantage. All playoff series are played in a best-of-seven format. The first two games are at the higher-seeded team’s home court and Games 3 and 4 are at the lower-seeded team’s home court. A deciding Game 7 will always be played at the home of the higher seed.

In the second round or conference semifinals, the team that wins between the No. 1 vs No. 8 will play against the winner of the No. 4 vs No. 5 and the No. 2 vs No. 7 winner faces the No. 3 vs No. 6 winners that works in East and West both conferences. Then the two 2nd round-winning teams will meet for the conference championship.

The winners of each of the conference championships will face in the NBA Finals. This year, the NBA Finals are scheduled to begin from June 1 to June 18, 2023. The home-court advantage in the NBA Finals goes to the team that recorded the most regular-season wins.

Road to the 2024 NBA finals, how game format does work by seed?

Eastern Conference, first round

  1. vs. 8.
  2. vs. 7.
  3. vs. 6.
  4. vs. 5.

Western Conference, first round

  1. vs. 8.
  2. vs. 7.
  3. vs. 6.
  4. vs. 5.

Eastern Conference semifinals

Winner of 1./8. vs. Winner of 2./7.
Winner of 3./6. vs. Winner of 4./5.

Western Conference semifinals

Winner of 1./8. vs. Winner of 2./7.
Winner of 3./6. vs. Winner of 4./5.

Eastern Conference Finals

Winner of 1./8./2./7. vs. Winner of 3./6./4./5.

Western Conference Finals

Winner of 1./8./2./7. vs. Winner of 3./6./4./5.

2024 NBA Finals

Eastern Conference Champion vs. Western Conference Champion

You will get a more updated playoff bracket, TV schedule, standings, and 2023-24 postseason games updated format will be available here when it will officially be disclosed.

Last season, the No. 1 Denver Nuggets beat the No. 8 Miami Heat by 4-1 series in the 2023 finals. The Nuggets recorded 53-29 regular-season games and the Heat had 44-38 in the 2022-23 season.