2025 NBA Playoff Bracket: Current Playoffs game format

NBA Playoff Bracket 2021
NBA Playoff Bracket

The 2025 NBA Playoff final bracket is now fully set, the 2025 NBA Finals game 1 begins on Thursday, June 6, and game 7 on Sunday, June 23.

There will be a total of 16 teams of 32 competing in the NBA playoffs for the 2025 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.

Latest 2025 NBA playoff bracket & seeds:

Eastern Conference:

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Miami Heat
(2) New York Knicks vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
(3) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (6) Indiana Pacers
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Orlando Magic

  • Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics (4-1)

Western Conference:

(1) OKC Thunder vs. (8) New Orleans Pelicans
(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers
(3) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (6) Phoenix Suns
(4) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (5) Dallas Mavericks

  • Western Conference Champion Dallas Mavericks (4-1)

2024 NBA finals schedule: Celtics lead series 2–0

  • Game 3 – Wednesday, June 12: Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks – 8:30 PM ET (ABC)
  • Game 4 – Friday, June 14: Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks – 8:30 PM ET (ABC)
  • Game 5 – Monday, June 17: Dallas Mavericks vs Boston Celtics 8:30 PM ET (ABC)

If necessary*

  • Game 6 – Monday, June 20: Boston Celtics vs Dallas Mavericks – 8:30 PM ET (ABC)
  • Game 7 – Monday, June 23: Dallas Mavericks vs Boston Celtics – 8:00 PM ET (ABC)

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 works.

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 2025 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.

2025 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 is officially 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.