The 2024 NBA Playoffs begin on April 16 with the Play-In Tournament and end in mid-June. The Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs will start on May 21.
16 teams will play for the championship title in four rounds of the 2024 NBA Playoffs: eight from the Eastern Conference, eight from the Western Conference
NBA Playoffs 2024: Schedule & all dates
Table of Contents
NBA Playoffs 2024 Standings: Who is in the playoffs?
The National Basketball League is divided into two conferences – Eastern and Western.
Who is in this year’s NBA playoffs? A total of 16 teams will make the 2024 NBA Playoffs: eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference.
The top six teams from each conference are guaranteed a place. The other four teams must first qualify via the play-in tournament. The last two play-off participants per conference will be played out in this tournament
Playoff standings Eastern Conference:
- Boston Celtics*
- Milwaukee Bucks*
- Orlando Magic*
- New York Knicks*
- Cleveland Cavaliers*
- Indiana Pacers*
- Miami Heat
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks
Explanation: * = qualified for the playoffs. 1 – 6 are fixed in the playoffs, 7 – 10 have to enter the play-in tournament. As of April 8, 2024
Playoff standings Western Conference:
- Minnesota Timberwolves*
- Denver Nuggets*
- Oklahoma City Thunder*
- LA Clippers
- Dallas Mavericks
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Golden State Warriors
Explanation: * = qualified for the playoffs. 1 – 6 are fixed in the playoffs, 7 – 10 have to enter the play-in tournament. Status as of April 8, 2024
NBA Playoffs 2024: Start with the Play-In Tournament
Eight teams, four per conference, will battle it out for the last four remaining playoff spots in the NBA Play-In Tournament, which only exists in 2020, before the official start of the NBA Playoffs.
The eight teams are those who are ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th after the end of the regular season.
What are the rules and mode for the play-in tournament?
Play In 2024 Eastern Conference Schedule
Play In 2024 Schedule Western Conference
The play-in tournament before the 2024 NBA Playoffs consists of three games per conference. First, the seventh-placed team meets the eighth-placed team in the final table of the regular season.
The number 7 seed has home court in this game. The winner of this so-called “Seven-Eight Game” qualifies for the 2022 NBA Playoffs and receives the 7 seed.
In the “Nine-Ten Game”, the tenth seed plays host to the ninth seed in the regular season. The winner of this game has to play the loser of the “Seven-Eight Game” in the final play-in game.
Whoever wins this duel gets the last play-off spot in the respective conference.
The seventh and eighth-placed teams therefore have a slight advantage. One win is enough for them to make the playoffs, while the ninth and tenth-placed teams in the regular season have to win two games to make the playoffs after all.
NBA playoffs schedule & schedule – the road to the finals
The National Basketball League is divided into two conferences – Eastern and Western. A total of 16 teams will make the 2022 NBA Playoffs: eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference.
Six teams from each conference are guaranteed a place. The other four teams must first qualify via the play-in tournament, in which the last two teams in each conference are selected for the playoffs.
The 2024 NBA Playoffs, including the finals, consist of four rounds in total: The 1st Round, the Conference Semifinals, the Conference Finals and the Final Round between the two Conference winners. These will be the NBA Finals.
However, the NBA playoffs start out a little differently to the NFL playoffs, for example.
In the National Football League playoffs, the two best teams in the regular season have a bye in the first playoff round.
This is not the case in the basketball championship. Here, the best teams are involved right from the start. This means that all eight participants will enter the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. As is also the case with the NHL playoffs
The 1st round of the NBA playoffs
Who plays who in the NBA Playoffs?
The best team in the regular season will face the eighth-best team – or the team that prevailed in the play-in tournament in the duel between the “Nine-Ten Game” winner and the “Seven-Eight Games” loser.
The second regular-season team will face the 5 seeds from the regular season will face each other.
Eastern Conference: Schedule & Stand
Western Conference: Schedule & Stand
2nd round, the conference semifinals
The second round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs are the Conference Semifinals.
This is where the winners of the first round play each other. Who plays against whom is determined by the NBA Playoffs schedule.
Important: The lower seed has home court advantage in the first game. This means that if there is a seventh and deciding game in the best-of-7 series, the team that was better in the regular season has home court in the last game.
The 2024 NBA Playoffs schedule for the 2nd round games begins on May 6 and 7
Eastern Conference: Schedule & Stand
Western Conference: Schedule & Stand
3rd round, the Conference Finals
The final round of the NBA playoffs are the Conference Finals.
They not only determine the winner of the respective conference, but also who will play each other in the finals for the championship title.
The winner of the Eastern Conference will play the NBA Finals against the winner of the Western Conference.
The start date of the Conference Finals in the 2024 NBA Playoffs is May 21 and 22
Conference Finals: Schedule & Status
NBA Finals 2024: Dates, games, mode
The NBA Finals are the last and most important round of the NBA playoffs. This is where the next champion is determined.
The mode is the same as the three previous playoff rounds – it is played in a best-of-seven format. Whoever wins four matches first is the champion and NBA champion. The winner of the finals also receives the coveted Larry O’Brien Championship trophy.
The finals of the 2024 NBA Playoffs begin on June 7 with Game 1. The NBA Finals can last a total of seven games. The shortest option is four games if one team wins all of the first four duels.
This means that the earliest date on which the 2024 NBA champions will be determined is June 15, and the latest date on which the 2024 NBA Playoffs will be over is June 24 – the day on which the 2024 European Football Championships begin in Germany
NBA Playoffs dates: This is how the 2024 NBA Finals will run
- Game 1 on June 7
- Game 2 on June 10
- Game 3 on June 13
- Game 4 on June 15
- Game 5 on June 18 (if necessary)
- Game 6 on June 21 (if necessary)
- Game 7 on June 24 (if necessary)
