When Are The NBA Playoffs? Schedule, Timings, And More 2024.

March 27, 2024 Mohsin

The basketball season culminates in an exciting way with the NBA Playoffs. As the NBA regular season ends, it’s a good time to start speculating about which teams will advance to the postseason. During the postseason, athletes’ and teams’ performances reach a previously unheard-of level, thrilling supporters everywhere.

Sunday, April 14, is the last day of the 2023–24 regular season. After the regular season concludes, the play-in tournament and the Playoffs will follow suit. While teams placed 7–10 will have to participate in the play-in round to gain a berth, the top six teams in both the Western and Eastern conferences will automatically qualify for the playoffs.

You can find the entire NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals schedule for 2024 in this article.

How are the 2024 NBA playoffs structured?

For the fifth consecutive season, the NBA will hold its Play-In Tournament for the 7–10 seeds in each conference before starting the customary 16-team playoff format. A play-in tournament will determine each conference’s seventh and eighth seeds. Following the Play-In Tournament, eight teams from each Eastern and Western Conference will compete in the traditional bracket-style playoffs. The NBA Finals schedule will feature a match between the East and West champions. There are four rounds in the postseason, each consisting of a seven-game series.

Play-in Tournament

The 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament will run over four days, beginning on Tuesday, April 16, and running through Friday, April 19. This event decided the last teams to advance to the postseason playoffs. While teams that place 1-6 in each conference’s standings are assured a position in the playoffs, those who place seventh through tenth will advance to the Play-In Tournament for the seventh and eighth playoff seeds.

It is a single-elimination format where the seventh and eighth teams will face one other, and the ninth and tenth ranks will face each other. The 7-seeded team will be determined by the match’s outcome between the teams ranked no. 7 and no. 8, while the 8-seeded club will advance to play against the winner of the game between the teams ranked no. 9 and no. 10. The clubs that secure the seventh and eighth seeds will qualify for a postseason berth.

Conference of the West

Phoenix Suns (7) vs Dallas Mavericks (8)
LA Lakers vs Golden State Warriors (10)

Eastern Gathering

Indiana Pacers (7) vs. Miami Heat (8)
Atlanta Hawks (9) Chicago Bulls (10)

TNT and ESPN will broadcast the six games of the Play-In Tournament together.

NBA Playoffs

The Play-In Tournament will be followed by the usual playoff tournament, in which eight teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences will face off in four rounds of a seven-game series. The first-round matches are as follows: 1 against. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 5. It doesn’t reseed in the NBA after upsets while the bracket is fixed. Therefore, regardless of who wins each contest, the winner of the 1-vs-8 showdown in the East will face the winner of the 4-vs-5 matchup.

The NBA playoffs begin on Saturday, April 20, with the first round. The conference semifinals are scheduled for May 6-7. However, if a series from the previous round ends early after four games, they may advance to May 4-5. The conference finals are scheduled for May 21–22. However, if a series from the previous round ends early, they may start on May 19–20.

The top four seeds in each conference get home-court advantage in the NBA playoffs. The team with home-court advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while their opponent hosts Games 3, 4, and 6. Games 5, 6, and 7 are played if necessary. The series is played in the 2–2–1–1–1 format. The first team with four victories moves on to the next phase.

2024 NBA Finals

June 6 marks the start of the 2024 NBA Finals (no matter how many games are played in the Conference Finals). The 2024 NBA Finals will conclude with game seven (if necessary) on June 23, 2024. However, if the Finals end in four, five, or six games, the playoffs may end a few days sooner.

The first game is on Thursday, June 6
Game 2 is on Sunday, June 9.
Game 3 is on Wednesday, June 12,
Game 4 is this Friday, June 14.
Games 5 (if needed) on Monday, June 17.
Games 6 (if required) on Thursday, June 20.
Game 7 (if needed) on Sunday, June 23.

How You Can Watch The NBA Playoffs

The NBA playoffs 2024 will be broadcast to American viewers on ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV. Some games will be broadcast on each network throughout the first round and conference semifinals. International audiences may watch the action on local broadcasters or their smartphones, PCs, or smart TVs using the NBA League Pass app.

You can watch the NBA Finals exclusively on ABC.

Which Teams Are Top Contenders?

Some of the best teams in basketball history will square off in the 2024 NBA Playoffs to see which squad can win it all. Entertaining stories, surprising detours, and the eventual crowning of a deserving NBA champion are all part of the journey.

Some clubs have shown themselves to be serious competitors. The Denver Nuggets, the defending NBA champions, have a formidable starting five that still appears most powerful when playing at full vigor. The Minnesota Timberwolves also have the top defense in the league.

This season, the Boston Celtics have defeated opponents by almost all-time highs. However, there are indications that when the heat gets extremely intense, they could break again.

With the best win-loss record in the NBA, the Boston Celtics lead the Eastern Conference after making some significant off-season transactions and seeming to be elite players on both ends. As their relationship develops, the NBA is cautioned about the potential harm Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, a star duo, may do.

Lastly, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers has achieved incredible feats in an attempt to elevate his club to the playoffs. He is the second-leading scorer in the league, with an average of 33 points per game on a career-high 53.2% shooting from the field and 10.4 rebounds per game.

The Los Angeles Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the Golden State Warriors, under Stephen Curry’s direction, are regular postseason race contenders. The Los Angeles Clippers, on the other hand, are enjoying the best winning run of the 2023–24 season, and a healthy Kawhi Leonard and James Harden lead them.

Bottom Line

The NBA playoffs often include intense matches, a few huge upsets, and memorable victories each season. Memorable events like the Denver Nuggets winning their first title exemplify the wildness of the postseason basketball game. Many memorable shots have been made in the playoffs, but none compare to Kawhi Leonard’s dagger against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019.

There will be 16 teams participating in the NBA playoffs in 2024. The top six teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences earn automatic invitations, with the remaining two slots in each conference being decided by the seventh through tenth seeds in the Play-In Tournament.