{"id":716627,"date":"2026-04-23T16:09:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716627\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T16:09:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:09:50","slug":"2026-nba-playoff-bracket-live-results-full-schedule-matchups-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716627\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NBA Playoff Bracket: Live Results, Full Schedule, Matchups & Format"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The chase for the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy is officially on! Every night of the 2026 NBA Playoffs brings fresh drama, from superstar takeovers to bracket-busting upsets that can flip the postseason picture in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Whether you’re tracking every first-round matchup, checking the latest results, or looking ahead to what’s next, our NBA bracket hub has you covered.<\/p>\n

Follow along for live scores, updated schedules, and playoff format details to help guide your\u00a0NBA picks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2026 NBA playoffs bracket2026 NBA Playoffs matchups and resultsFirst Round – East<\/p>\n

(1) Detroit Pistons<\/a> vs (8) Orlando Magic<\/a> – Tied 1-1<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Pistons<\/p>\n

-270<\/p>\n

Magic<\/p>\n

+220<\/p>\n

(2) Boston Celtics<\/a> vs (7) Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> – Tied 1-1<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Celtics<\/p>\n

-600<\/p>\n

76ers<\/p>\n

+450<\/p>\n

(3) New York Knicks<\/a> vs (6) Atlanta Hawks<\/a> – Tied 1-1<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Knicks<\/p>\n

-190<\/p>\n

Hawks<\/p>\n

+160<\/p>\n

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> vs (5) Toronto Raptors<\/a> – Cavaliers lead 2-0<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Cavaliers<\/p>\n

-2200<\/p>\n

Raptors<\/p>\n

+1100<\/p>\n

First Round – West<\/p>\n

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> vs (8) Phoenix Suns<\/a> – Thunder lead 2-0<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Thunder<\/p>\n

-100000<\/p>\n

Suns<\/p>\n

+5000<\/p>\n

(2) San Antonio Spurs<\/a> vs (7) Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> – Tied 1-1<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Spurs<\/p>\n

-500<\/p>\n

Trail Blazers<\/p>\n

+375<\/p>\n

(3) Denver Nuggets<\/a> vs (6) Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> – Tied 1-1<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Nuggets<\/p>\n

-220<\/p>\n

Timberwolves<\/p>\n

+180<\/p>\n

(4) Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> vs (5) Houston Rockets<\/a> – Lakers lead 2-0<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

To win<\/p>\n

Lakers<\/p>\n

-130<\/p>\n

Rockets<\/p>\n

+110<\/p>\n

2026 NBA Playoffs schedule<\/p>\n

Event<\/p>\n

Date<\/p>\n

NBA Play-In Tournament<\/p>\n

April 14-17<\/p>\n

NBA Playoffs begin<\/p>\n

April 18<\/p>\n

NBA Conference Semifinals<\/p>\n

TBD<\/p>\n

NBA Conference Finals<\/p>\n

TBD<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 1<\/p>\n

June 3<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 2<\/p>\n

June 5<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 3<\/p>\n

June 8<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 4<\/p>\n

June 10<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 5 (if necessary)<\/p>\n

June 13<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 6 (if necessary)<\/p>\n

June 16<\/p>\n

NBA Finals Game 7 (if necessary)<\/p>\n

June 19<\/p>\n

NBA playoff format<\/p>\n

The NBA playoffs adopt a format designed to favor successful teams while giving underdogs a shot at the championship. Here’s a brief look at the structure:<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The postseason begins with a Play-In Tournament featuring the 7th through 10th-ranked teams in each conference. This extends from April 14 to 17.<\/p>\n

The NBA Playoffs kick off with the first round on April 18, where the top one to six teams in each conference join the winners of the Play-In.<\/p>\n

The matchups are set as No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed, No. 2 vs. No. 7 seed, No. 3 vs. No. 6 seed, and No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed.<\/p>\n

Each playoff round, including the Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, and NBA Finals, features a seven-game series.<\/p>\n

In these series, the higher-seeded team hosts Games 1, 2, 5 (if necessary), and 7 (if necessary) following a 2-2-1-1-1 format.<\/p>\n

The NBA Finals start on June 3.<\/p>\n

Looking for more intel? Our\u00a0NBA Championship odds<\/a> breaks down the clubs with the best odds of winning the NBA Finals. And be sure to check out our NBA Finals MVP odds<\/a> page to see which player is most likely to hoist the Bill Russell Trophy when the dust settles.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Covers.com<\/a>, read the full article here<\/a> and view our best betting sites<\/a> or check out our top sportsbook promos<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[208,7,75,193,187,188,194,150,152,6,1220,11,191,179,76,207,472,471,474,476],"class_list":{"0":"post-716627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","12":"tag-denver-nuggets","13":"tag-detroit-pistons","14":"tag-houston-rockets","15":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","16":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-nba-finals","19":"tag-nba-playoffs","20":"tag-new-york-knicks","21":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","22":"tag-orlando-magic","23":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","24":"tag-phoenix-suns","25":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","26":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","27":"tag-toronto-raptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116454898100153044","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}