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The NBA playoffs are underway. The entire first-round series played their first games, and the home teams went 4-4.
As each series is a best-of-seven, the first round of the playoffs will continue until the end of April.
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The second round is scheduled to begin on May 1. The start could move up early to April 29 if each series takes up less than seven games.
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The conference finals will follow and are scheduled to begin on May 16 or 17. They can also start early on May 14 if the conference semifinals end quickly.
The NBA finals begin on June 1. The finals will be played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. This means the higher seed hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7. If the finals go for seven games, the season will end on June 18. The dates of the finals will not change no matter what happens in the series or the conference finals before.
NBA Finals Schedule
- June 1: NBA Finals 2023 Game 1
- June 4: NBA Finals 2023 Game 2
- June 7: NBA Finals 2023 Game 3
- June 9: NBA Finals 2023 Game 4
- June 12: NBA Finals 2023 Game 5 (if necessary)
- June 15: NBA Finals 2023 Game 6 (if necessary)
- June 18: NBA Finals 2023 Game 7 (if necessary)
Unless every series ends in a sweep, there will be NBA playoff action every day until at least April 26. There are usually double or triple headers on weeknights with more games on the weekends. The latest the first round can go is April 30.
How do the NBA Playoffs work?
Once the top eight seeds are determined after the play-in tournament, the first round begins.
The brackets are divided with the top eight teams in the East on one side and the top eight teams in the West on the other. The first round begins with the No. 1 seed taking on the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed facing the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed versus the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed against the No. 5 seed.
The winners of No. 1 vs No. 8 play the winners of No. 4 vs No. 5 in the next round. The winners of the No. 2 vs No. 7 series play the winner of the No. 3 vs No. 6 series. The NBA playoffs use the traditional bracket format and do not reseed teams after each round.
A series is played in a best-of-seven format. The first team to win four games advances to the next round. Therefore, a series can be between four and seven games. So the NBA Playoffs can range from 60 to 105 games, depending on how each series plays out. Each round of the playoffs is played in a best-of-seven format.
