The 2026 NBA playoff bracket is set, and it’s the kind of thing fans stare at a little too long—because now the dates, the matchups, even the question marks are all finally in one place. All 20 seeds are locked in, and the postseason kicks off Tuesday with Hornets-Heat and Suns-Blazers in the Play-In Tournament.
In the East, the Raptors clinched the final top-six seed and a guaranteed playoff berth on Sunday. In the West, the Nuggets closed out the regular season by clinching the No. 3 seed over the Lakers. That’s the base layer done, the “no more tinkering” moment—though, as always, the play-in chaos is still queued up right behind it.
The Play-In Tournament runs through Friday, and then the first round starts on Saturday (April 18). The play-in decides the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in both conferences, but four of the eight first-round matchups are already known. In the East, the No. 3 Knicks will face the No. 6 Hawks, and the No. 4 Cavaliers will go up against the No. 5 Raptors.
So in the West, it’s the No. 3 Nuggets against the No. 6 Timberwolves—plus the No. 4 Lakers meeting the No. 5 Rockets. The teams waiting on the other side are the Pistons, Celtics, Thunder and Spurs. Celtics fans already know at least one thing for sure: the East’s No. 2 seed will face either the 76ers or the Magic in the first round. And in a very specific little slice of excitement, the Spurs will battle either the Suns or Trail Blazers in Victor Wembanyama’s playoff debut.
Here’s what the now official 2026 NBA playoff bracket looks like:
East first round: No. 1 Pistons vs. No. 8 TBD; No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 TBD; No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Hawks; No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Raptors.
West first round: No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 TBD; No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 7 TBD; No. 3 Nuggets vs. No. 6 Timberwolves; No. 4 Lakers vs. No. 5 Rockets.
Play-In Tournament schedule (with the usual do-or-go-home stakes): Tuesday, April 14 has Hornets vs. Heat, 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime—loser is eliminated from postseason—and Suns vs. Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET, Prime, where the winner gets West No. 7 seed. Wednesday, April 15 continues with 76ers vs. Magic, 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime—winner gets East No. 7 seed—and Clippers vs. Warriors, 10 p.m. ET, Prime—loser is eliminated from postseason.
Friday, April 17 then decides the final seeds: 76ers/Magic vs. Hornets/Heat, 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime—winner gets East No. 8 seed, loser is eliminated from postseason—and Suns/Trail Blazers vs. Clippers/Warriors, 10 p.m. ET, Prime—winner gets West No. 8 seed, loser is eliminated from postseason.
A small real-world detail while you picture all this: on game nights, you can usually hear the pause of a crowd—the kind of hush before the first tip—like it’s holding its breath. Saturday, April 18 is when the full bracket starts showing its teeth: No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Raptors at 1 p.m., Prime; No. 3 Nuggets vs. No. 6 Timberwolves at 3:30 p.m., Prime; No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Hawks at 6 p.m., Prime; and No. 4 Lakers vs. No. 5 Rockets at 8:30 p.m., ABC/fubo. Sunday, April 19 continues with No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 TBD at 1 p.m., ABC/fubo, and No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 TBD at 3:30 p.m., ABC/fubo.
Then it’s No. 1 Pistons vs. No. 8 TBD at 6:30 p.m., NBC, followed by No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 7 TBD at 9 p.m., NBC.
Key dates stretch out after that: April 18-19 first-round series begin; May 2-4 the second round begins; May 10, 2026 NBA Draft Lottery; May 19 Eastern Conference Finals begin; May 20 Western Conference Finals begin; June 3 NBA Finals Game 1; and June 19 NBA Finals Game 7 (if necessary). And yep—this is the part where you start checking tiebreakers again, even though you promised yourself you wouldn’t.
3e lien : les citoyens soulagés d’un corridor central abandonné