After 1,230 regular-season games and a play-in tournament, the NBA playoffs have finally arrived! The moment when the best separate themselves from the rest, and the highest level of basketball is on show, with all roads leading to the NBA Finals, where only one team can be crowned champions.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be aiming to become the first team to win back-to-back NBA championships since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. They ended this season as the best team in the league after finishing with a 64-18 record, topping the Western Conference.
Alongside them, the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Lakers secured homecourt advantage during the playoffs, while the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, and Phoenix Suns make up the other teams in the West.
In the East, the Detroit Pistons topped the standings (60-22), with the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Cleveland Cavaliers making up the top four. They are joined by the Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic.
Teams on each side will battle through the playoffs in best-of-seven series to be named conference champions, before eventually meeting in the NBA Finals, which begin on June 3rd.
Playoff bracket
Western Conference
First round: Starts April 18th
Oklahoma City Thunder (1) 4-0 Phoenix Suns (8)
San Antonio Spurs (2) 4-1 Portland Trail Blazers (7)
Denver Nuggets (3) 2-4 Minnesota Timberwolves (6)
Los Angeles Lakers (4) 4-2 Houston Rockets (5)
Semi-finals: Starts between May 2nd and May 4th
Oklahoma City Thunder (1) 1-0 Los Angeles Lakers (4)
San Antonio Spurs (2) 0-1 Minnesota Timberwolves (6)
Finals: Starts May 18th or May 20th
Thunder (1) / Lakers (4) vs Spurs (2) / T’Wolves (6)
Eastern Conference
First round: Starts April 18th
Detroit Pistons (1) 4-3 Orlando Magic (8)
Boston Celtics (2) 3-4 Philadelphia 76ers (7)
New York Knicks (3) 4-2 Atlanta Hawks (6)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4) 4-3 Toronto Raptors (5)
Semi-finals: Starts between May 2nd and May 4th
Detroit Pistons (1) 1-0 Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
New York Knicks (3) 1-0 Philadelphia 76ers (7)
Finals: Starts May 17th or May 19th
Pistons (1) / Cavaliers (4) vs 76ers (7) / Knicks (3)
