The NBA Playoffs 2022 begin on 16 April. There, 16 teams will play in four rounds for the NBA championship title: eight from the Eastern Conference, eight from the Western Conference.
Six teams from each conference are fixed in the playoffs. The other four teams must first qualify via the new Play-In Tournament, in which the last two teams in each conference are selected for the playoffs.
The Play-In Tournament will run from April 12-15.
Table of Contents
NBA Playoffs 2022: Schedule & Dates
Which teams will play in the 2022 NBA Playoffs?
Eastern Conference
– Miami Heat
– Boston Celtics
– Milwaukee Bucks
– Philadelphia 76ers
– Toronto Raptors
– Chicago Bulls
– open
– open
Western Conference
– Phoenix Suns
– Memphis Grizzlies
– Golden State Warriors
– Dallas Mavericks
– Utah Jazz
– Denver Nuggets
– open
– open
The 2022 Play-In: Schedule, Dates, Teams, Mode
Eight teams, four per conference, are still battling for the last four remaining playoff tickets in the new NBA Play-In Tournament.
The eight teams are those ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively after the end of the Regular Season.
What are the rules and mode for the Play-In Tournament?
The play-in tournament before the 2022 NBA Playoffs consists of three games per conference. First, the seventh-place team meets the eighth-place team in the final standings of the regular season.
The number 7 seed has home court in this game. The winner of this so-called “Seven-Eight Game” is qualified for the 2022 NBA Playoffs and gets the 7-seed.
NBA Playoffs 2022: Play In Schedule Eastern Conference
NBA Playoffs 2022: Play In Schedule Western Conference
In the “Nine-Ten Game”, the tenth team plays host to the ninth team of 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 will get the last play-off place in the respective conference.
This gives the seventh and eighth-placed teams a slight advantage. They only need one win to make the play-offs, while the ninth and tenth-placed teams of the regular season have to win two games to get into the play-offs.
Mark that calendar 🗓️
Game 1 dates for the First Round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel ⬇️
More information will be provided as it is finalized. pic.twitter.com/qyqgbI2Bcl
– NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 11, 2022
NBA Playoffs Format & Schedule – the road to the finals
The NBA Playoffs, including the Finals, consist of a total of four rounds. After the 1st round come the Conference Semifinals, then the Conference Finals and the final round between the two Conference winners are then the NBA Finals.
The playoffs this season are scheduled to begin on 16 April and end on 30 May 2022 at the latest.
However, the NBA playoffs run a little differently than the NFL playoffs at the beginning.
In the National Football League playoffs, the top two teams in the regular season have a bye in the first playoff round. That doesn’t happen in the basketball championship.
This means that all eight participants will enter the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
Who will play who?
The best team of the regular season will play the eighth-best team – or the team that prevailed in the play-in tournament in the duel of the “Nine-Ten Game” winner against the “Seven-Eight Games” loser.
The second Regular Season team will face the 7 seed. This is the team that prevailed in the Play In Tournament in the “Seven-Eight Games”.
In the other games, the third and sixth best teams of the basic round will meet as well as the number 4 and 5 of the Regular Season.
Conference Semifinals
The second round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs are the Conference Semifinals.
Here the winners from the first round play against each other. Who plays who is determined by the NBA Playoffs schedule.
Important: The lower seed has home court advantage in the first game. This means that should the best-of-7 series come down to a seventh and deciding game, the team that was better in the regular season will have home court advantage in the final game.
Dates and Games of the NBA Conference Semifinals
Conference Finals
The final round of the NBA Playoffs are the Conference Finals.
This is where not only the winner of each conference is determined, 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 2022 NBA Conference Finals is May 17 and 18 respectively.
NBA Finals 2022: Dates, Games, Mode
The NBA Finals are the last and also most important round of the NBA Playoffs. Here the upcoming champion will be determined.
The mode is the same as the three playoff rounds before – 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 will also receive the coveted Larry O’Brien Championship trophy.
The NBA Finals 2022 will begin on 2 June with Game 1. In total, the NBA Finals can go over 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 2022 NBA Champions will be decided is 10 June, and the latest date on which the 2022 NBA Playoffs will be over is 19 June.
The Game Dates for the 2022 NBA Finals
– Game 1 on June 2.
– Game 2 on 5 June
– Game 3 on 8 June
– Match 4 on 10 June
– Match 5 on 13 June (if necessary)
– Match 6 on 16 June (if necessary)
– Match 7 on 19 June (if necessary)
