It’s that time of year again: the NBA Playoffs have well and truly arrived. If you haven’t been watching, the remaining teams in contention are deep into the first round.
The winner of the 2025 Championship will be declared in June, but how will we get there?
Here’s what you need to know.
Eastern and Western Conferences
The first thing to know is that the NBA is split into two groups — the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.
Each conference has 15 teams, which are then split into three smaller groups of five, called ‘divisions’. The teams are mostly grouped based on their location to reduce travel time.
During a regular season, each team plays 82 games. If you finish in the top six of the conference, you qualify for the playoffs. This is the next round of the competition.
The teams that placed between 7 and 10 (remember, out of 15) will then compete in something called the play-in tournament, a knockout round to see which teams will fill the remaining two spots in each of the conference playoffs.
The Playoffs
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In the NBA, each Conference has three stages of playoffs: the ‘first round playoffs’, the ‘conference semifinals’, and the ‘conference finals’. A Playoff is not just one game — it is a best-of-seven series.
First-round playoffs: The top eight teams in each conference are split into four groups of two. Each group plays a series of seven games against each other. The first team to win four games wins that playoff. This is the stage we are at right now.
Conference semifinals: Four winners from each conference will progress to this next round. The four teams will be separated into two groups of two. Rach group will then play against each other in a best-of-seven series.
Conference finals: Two teams from each conference will emerge from the semifinals. This means there are four teams left across both conferences. The two teams in each conference then face off (yes, in another best-of-seven series).
The next stage is the NBA Championships! The winners of both conference finals will play each other (you guessed it, in a best-of-seven series) for the final prize: the NBA Championship.
The 2025 Playoffs
The number one seeds from the two conferences, the Oklahoma City Thunder (west) and Cleveland Cavaliers (east), have both already advanced to the semi-finals after sweeping their respective opponents 4-0. The Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Cavaliers dominated the Miami Heat.
Still playing in the Western Conference first round, the Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers are tied 2-2, the Minnesota Timberwolves lead LeBron James’ LA Lakers 3-1, and the Houston Rockets are trailing the Golden State Warriors 1-3.
In the Eastern Conference first round, the Indiana Pacers lead the Milwaukee Bucks 3-1, the New York Knicks lead the Detroit Pistons 3-1, and defending champions the Boston Celtics lead the Orlando Magic 3-1.
