2023 NBA playoffs

The 2023 NBA playoffs is the upcoming postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2022–23 season. The playoffs will begin on April 15 and will end with the conclusion of the 2023 NBA Finals.

2023 NBA playoffs
DatesApril 15 – June 2023[lower-alpha 1]
Season2022–23
Teams16

Overview

Updates to postseason appearances
  • The Milwaukee Bucks will enter the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, along with clinching the best record in the NBA for the third time in the last five seasons.
  • The Denver Nuggets will enter the postseason for the fifth consecutive season, along with clinching the best record in the Western Conference for the first time in franchise history.
  • The Boston Celtics will enter the postseason for the ninth consecutive season, currently the longest such streak in the NBA.
  • The Philadelphia 76ers will enter the postseason for the sixth consecutive season.
  • The Brooklyn Nets will enter the postseason for the fifth consecutive season.
  • The Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns will enter the postseason for the third consecutive season.
  • The New York Knicks will enter the postseason for the first time since 2021.
  • The Cleveland Cavaliers will enter the postseason for the first time since 2018, and the first time without LeBron James on their roster since 1998.
  • The Sacramento Kings will enter the postseason for the first time since 2006, snapping the longest postseason drought in NBA history.
  • The Dallas Mavericks will miss the postseason for the first time since 2019.
  • The San Antonio Spurs will miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
  • The Utah Jazz will miss the postseason for the first time since 2016.
  • The Charlotte Hornets will miss the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, currently the longest active postseason drought in the NBA.

Notable occurrences

Format
See also: NBA playoffs § Format

Eight teams from each conference will participate in the playoffs. The top six teams in each conference, based on winning percentage, will directly qualify for the playoffs; the seeding order of those teams will be based on winning percentage. If two or more teams have the same record, standard NBA tiebreaker rules will be used.

The NBA Board of Governors adopted a format starting in 2021 to have a play-in tournament involving the teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The 7th place team and 8th place team will participate in a "double-chance" game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the 7-seed. The loser will then play the winner of the elimination game between the 9th place and 10th place teams to determine the playoff's 8-seed. The NBA's regular playoff format will then proceed as normal.[2]

Each conference's bracket will be fixed with no reseeding. All rounds will be a best-of-seven series; a series will end when one team wins four games, and that team will advance to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, will be in a 2–2–1–1–1 format with regards to hosting. In the conference playoffs, home-court advantage will go to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). For the NBA Finals, home-court advantage will go to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties will be broken based on head-to-head record, followed by intra-conference record.

Playoff qualifying

On March 14, 2023, the Milwaukee Bucks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.[3] While noted in the below tables, division titles have no bearing on seeding.[4]

The below tables reflect current playoff positioning and are subject to change through the end of the regular season (April 9). Seeds 7 and 8 in each conference are not finalized until the first-stage play-in tournament is completed (April 11–14).

Further information: NBA Play-In Tournament § 2023

Eastern Conference

Updated through April 7, 2023.

SeedTeamRecordClinched
Play-in berthPlayoff berthDivision titleBest record
in conference		Best record
in NBA
1Milwaukee Bucks58–23—March 14[3]March 28[5]April 5[6]April 5[6]
2Boston Celtics56–25—March 18[7]April 5[8]——
3Philadelphia 76ers53–28—March 21[9]———
4Cleveland Cavaliers51–30—March 26[10]———
5New York Knicks47–34—April 2[11]———
6Brooklyn Nets45–36—April 7[12]———
daggerMiami Heat43–38April 7[13]April 6[14]——
daggerAtlanta Hawks41–40April 5[15]———
daggerToronto Raptors40–41April 2[16]———
daggerChicago Bulls39–42April 4[17]———

dagger Teams ranked 7 through 10 will participate in the play-in tournament to determine seeds 7 and 8.

Western Conference
SeedTeamRecordClinched
Play-in berthPlayoff berthDivision titleBest record
in conference		Best record
in NBA
1Denver Nuggets52–28—March 16[18]March 16[18]April 5[19]—
2Memphis Grizzlies51–30—March 24[20]March 22[20]——
3Sacramento Kings48–33—March 29[21]April 4[22]——
4Phoenix Suns45–36—April 4[23]———
5Golden State Warriors43–38———
6Los Angeles Clippers42–38———
daggerLos Angeles Lakers42–39———
daggerNew Orleans Pelicans42–39———
daggerMinnesota Timberwolves40–40———
daggerOklahoma City Thunder39–42April 7[24]———

dagger Teams ranked 7 through 10 will participate in the play-in tournament to determine seeds 7 and 8.

Bracket

Teams that advance to the next round will be highlighted in bold. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Teams with home-court advantage (i.e., the higher-seeded team) are shown in italics.

First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
            
E1 Milwaukee*
E8  
 
 
E4 Cleveland
E5 New York
 
Eastern Conference
 
E3 Philadelphia
E6 Brooklyn
 
 
E2 Boston*
E7  
 
 
W1 Denver*
W8  
 
 
W4 Phoenix
W5  
 
Western Conference
 
W3 Sacramento*
W6  
 
 
W2 Memphis*
W7  

* Division winner
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

First round
Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (8) TBD
TBD
April
Milwaukee Bucks vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Milwaukee Bucks vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Milwaukee Bucks vs. TBD*
TBD

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) TBD
TBD
April
TBD vs. Boston Celtics
TBD
April
TBD vs. Boston Celtics
TBD
April
Boston Celtics vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Boston Celtics vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
TBD vs. Boston Celtics*
TBD
April
Boston Celtics vs. TBD*
TBD
TBD
April
TBD vs. Boston Celtics*

(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Brooklyn Nets

This will be the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, and the second since the New Jersey Nets relocated to Brooklyn in 2012, with the 76ers winning two of the first three meetings.[25]

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) New York Knicks

This will be the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Knicks winning the first three meetings.[26]

(1) Denver Nuggets vs. (8) TBD
TBD
April
TBD vs. Denver Nuggets
TBD
April
TBD vs. Denver Nuggets
TBD
April
Denver Nuggets vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Denver Nuggets vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
TBD vs. Denver Nuggets*
TBD
April
Denver Nuggets vs. TBD*
TBD
TBD
April
TBD vs. Denver Nuggets*

(2) Memphis Grizzlies vs. (7) TBD
TBD
April
Memphis Grizzlies vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Memphis Grizzlies vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Memphis Grizzlies vs. TBD*
TBD

(3) Sacramento Kings vs. (6) TBD
TBD
April
Sacramento Kings vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Sacramento Kings vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Sacramento Kings vs. TBD*
TBD

(4) Phoenix Suns vs. (5) TBD
TBD
April
Phoenix Suns vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Phoenix Suns vs. TBD
TBD
TBD
April
Phoenix Suns vs. TBD*
TBD

Media coverage

Television

ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV will broadcast the playoffs nationally in the United States.

ESPN/ABC will have exclusive coverage of the Western Conference Finals while TNT will have exclusive coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals. ABC will have exclusive coverage of the NBA Finals for the 21st straight year.[27]

Sponsorship

For the second straight year, the playoffs will be officially known as the "2023 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel". During the multiyear agreement with Google Pixel, this sponsorship provides the logo branding inside the venues and in official digital properties on-court, as well as commercial inventory during ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV's telecasts of the playoff games.[28]

Notes
  1. The final game of the playoffs could be as early as June 9 or as late as June 18, depending on the length of the NBA Finals.[1]

References
  1. "2023 NBA Playoffs Schedule". NBA.com. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  2. Reynolds, Tim (July 12, 2022). "NBA adopts Play-In Tournament on full-time basis". Las Vegas: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  3. Owczarski, Jim (March 14, 2022). "Milwaukee Bucks become first team to clinch playoff spot with win over Phoenix Suns". USA Today. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  4. Moore, Matt (September 9, 2015). "5 Things to Know: NBA division winners not guaranteed playoff spot". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  5. "Hawks beat Cavaliers 120-118, help Bucks clinch Central". Yahoo Sports. March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  6. Maloney, Jack (April 5, 2023). "Bucks clinch NBA's best record: 'Game 7s at home are gonna be big' for Milwaukee". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  7. Goss, Nick (March 19, 2023). "Celtics Officially Clinch NBA Playoff Spot for Ninth Straight Season". NBC Boston. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  8. Grasso, Justin (April 5, 2023). "76ers Lock Up Playoff Seed After Celtics Defeat Raptors". si.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  9. Carlin, Ky (March 21, 2023). "Sixers clinch playoff spot after Nets fall to Cavaliers at home". Sixers Wire. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  10. Fedor, Chris (March 26, 2023). "Cavs clinch playoff spot with dominant 108-91 win over Houston Rockets". cleveland.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  11. Bernstein, Jeffrey (April 2, 2023). "Knicks clinch playoff berth with 118-109 win over Wizards". AP News. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  12. "Nets lock up 6-seed in East, get Sixers in 1st round of playoffs". espn.com. April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  13. Winderman, Ira (April 7, 2023). "Heat rest regulars in 114-108 loss to Wizards, will host Hawks in Tuesday play-in game". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  14. Chiang, Anthony (April 6, 2023). "Takeaways from Heat's blowout win in Philadelphia to keep slim hopes alive of escaping play-in". miamiherald.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  15. Umontuen, Itoro (April 6, 2023). "Atlanta Hawks clinch spot in NBA's play-in tournament with victory over the Wizards". The Atlanta Voice. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  16. "Raptors locked into play-in tournament after Nets win over Jazz". Sportsnet. April 2, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  17. Taylor, Ryan (April 4, 2023). "The Chicago Bulls clinch a play-in spot with Orlando Magic loss". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  18. Lage, Larry (March 16, 2023). "Nuggets top Pistons to end skid, clinch Northwest Division". AP News. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  19. Sarles, Jesse (April 5, 2023). "Denver Nuggets clinch No. 1 seed in NBA's Western Conference for first time in franchise history". CBS News. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  20. Bailey, Clay (March 24, 2023). "Grizzlies clinch playoff berth with 151-114 rout of Rockets". AP News. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  21. Spears, Marc (March 30, 2023). "Kings clinch first playoff berth since 2006 with win over Blazers". espn.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  22. Kraemer, Mackenzie (April 4, 2023). "Sacramento Kings clinch Pacific Division as historic long shot". espn.com. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  23. Thompson, Jack (April 4, 2023). "Suns clinch playoff spot, rout injury-riddled Spurs 115-94". AP News. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  24. Almanza, Clemente (April 7, 2023). "OKC Thunder officially clinch 2023 Play-In tournament spot". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  25. "Team Rivalry Finder — Philadelphia 76ers versus Brooklyn Nets (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  26. "Team Rivalry Finder — Cleveland Cavaliers versus New York Knicks (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  27. "ESPN and ABC's star-studded 2022-23 NBA television schedule". NBA.com. August 17, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  28. "NBA reaches deal to make Google Pixel first presenting partner of NBA playoffs". TheAthletic.com. October 18, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
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