16 teams – eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference – will compete in four rounds of the NBA Playoffs for the championship title. The NBA Playoffs 2025 will begin on April 19. The Finals will start on June 5.
Here you can find all the information about the 2025 NBA Playoffs: dates, schedule, teams, series, format, and broadcast details.
1st round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs: Series standings
Schedule and dates for the 2025 NBA Playoffs
The Cleveland Cavaliers have qualified for the NBA Playoffs as the best team in the Eastern Conference regular season. The Boston Celtics finished second in the regular season.
In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder secured the number 1 seed ahead of the Houston Rockets.
First round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs in the Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers 1 vs. Miami Heat (8)
- Game 1: Heat vs. Cavaliers
- Game 2: Heat vs. Cavaliers
- Game 3: Cavaliers vs. Heat
- Game 4: Cavaliers vs. v
Boston Celtics (2) vs. Orlando Magic (7)
- Game 1: Magic vs. Celtics
- Game 2: Magic vs. Celtics
- Game 3: Cavaliers vs. Magic
- Game 4: Cavaliers vs. Magic
New York Knicks (3) vs. Detroit Pistons (6)
- Game 1: Pistons vs. Knicks
- Game 2: Pistons vs. Knicks
- Game 3: Knicks vs. Pistons
- Game 4: Knicks vs. Pistons
Indiana Pacers (4) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (5)
- Game 1: Bucks vs. Pacers
- Game 2: Bucks vs. Pacers
- Game 3: Pacers vs. Bucks
- Game 4: Pacers vs. Bucks
1st round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs
Oklahoma City Thunder 1 vs. Memphis Grizzlies (8)
- Game 1: Grizzlies vs. City Thunder
- Game 2: Grizzlies vs. City Thunder
- Game 3: City Thunder vs. Grizzlies
- Game 4: City Thunder vs. Grizzlies
Houston Rockets (2) vs. Golden State Warriors (7)
- Game 1: Warriors vs. Rockets
- Game 2: Warriors vs. Rockets
- Game 3: Rockets vs. Warriors
- Game 4: Rockets vs. Warriors
Los Angeles Lakers (3) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (6)
- Game 1: Timberwolves vs. Lakers
- Game 2: Timberwolves vs. Lakers
- Game 3: Lakers vs. Timberwolves
- Game 4: Lakers vs. Timberwolves
Denver Nuggets (4) vs. LA Clippers (5)
- Game 1: Clippers vs. Nuggets
- Game 2: Clippers vs. Nuggets
- Game 3: Nuggets vs. Clippers
- Game 4: Nuggets vs. Clippers
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Mode & Format: How do the 2025 NBA Playoffs work?
The National Basketball League is divided into two conferences – Eastern and Western.
A total of 16 teams make it to the NBA Playoffs: eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference.
The top six teams from each conference are guaranteed a spot. The other four teams must first qualify via the play-in tournament, which is held shortly before the playoffs. This tournament determines the last two playoff participants per conference.
After the play-in tournament, the NBA playoffs consist of four rounds, including the finals: the first round, the conference semifinals, the conference finals, and the final round between the two conference winners. These are then the NBA Finals.
However, the NBA playoffs are a bit different than, say, the NFL playoffs. In the National Football League playoffs, the two best teams from the regular season get a bye in the first playoff round.
That doesn’t happen in the basketball championship. Here, the best teams from each conference are in it from the start. So, all eight participants will enter the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.
The first round of the NBA playoffs
Who is playing against whom in the 2025 NBA playoffs?
The best team from the regular season faces the eighth-best team – or the team that prevailed in the play-in tournament in a duel between the winner of the “nine-ten game” and the loser of the “seven-eight games.”
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-best and sixth-best teams from the regular season will face each other, as will the numbers 4 and 5 from the regular season.
Second round, the Conference Semifinals
The second round of the NBA Playoffs is the Conference Semifinals.
Here, the winners from the first round play against each other. Who plays against whom is determined by the NBA Playoffs schedule.
Important: The lower seed has home advantage in the first game. This means that if the best-of-7 series goes to a seventh and decisive game, the team that was better in the regular season has home advantage in the last game.
The 2025 NBA Playoffs dates for the second round games begin on May 5 and 6.
Third round, the Conference Finals
The semi-finals of the NBA Playoffs are known as the Conference Finals.
These games not only determine the winner of each conference, but also who will compete against each other in the NBA Finals for the championship title.
The winner of the Eastern Conference will face the winner of the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.
The start date for the Conference Finals in the 2025 NBA Playoffs is May 28.
NBA Finals 2025: Dates, games, format
The NBA Finals are the last and most important round of the NBA Playoffs. This is where the next champion is determined.
The format is the same as the three previous playoff rounds – it is played in a best-of-seven format. The first team to win four games is the champion and NBA champion. The winner of the Finals also receives the coveted Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
The 2025 NBA Playoffs Finals begin on June 5 with Game 1. Here, too, the format is best-of-seven. This means that the NBA Finals can go to a total of seven games.
The shortest version is four games, if one team wins all of the first four games.
NBA Playoffs 2025 broadcast on DAZN: TV and livestream
The sports streaming service DAZN broadcasts several games per week during the NBA season. Will DAZN also broadcast the NBA Playoffs 2025?
All games of the play-in tournament will be broadcast live in Germany on DAZN. In addition, at least one game will be shown every day during the NBA Playoffs.
Starting with the Conference Finals, every game will be broadcast live on DAZN.
All games will be available with German commentary, and DAZN will also broadcast the NBA’s own channel, NBA TV, with original American commentary.
