NBA Playoffs 2027: Start Date, Bracket and How the Postseason Works
Quick Answer: The 2027 NBA playoffs begin on Saturday, April 17, 2027, the day after the Play-In Tournament ends, per the league’s published 2026-27 calendar. Sixteen teams — eight from each conference — enter a fixed bracket where every round is a best-of-seven series: first round, conference semifinals, conference finals, then the NBA Finals in June 2027.
Table of Contents (click to expand)
When do the 2027 NBA playoffs start?
The 2027 NBA playoffs open on Saturday, April 17, 2027 — listed on the league’s published 2026-27 key dates, the first day after the postseason window begins. The SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament that decides the final two playoff seeds in each conference wraps up the night before, on Friday, April 16, and the first-round series start immediately after.
The timing leaves no slack. The regular season ends on Sunday, April 11 with all 30 teams playing their last game, the Play-In fills the four days that follow, and then the bracket locks and the real season — the one the other six months were building toward — begins. There is no gap week between the Play-In and the first round.
Which 16 teams make the playoffs?
Sixteen teams qualify: the top eight from the Eastern Conference and the top eight from the Western Conference. The top six finishers in each conference go straight through — they skip the Play-In entirely and rest while the tournament is played.
The final two seeds in each conference come out of the Play-In, contested by the teams that finish seventh through tenth. Nobody knows yet which teams those 16 will be — the standings lock in April 2027, and matchups, tip times and broadcast assignments only get set once the bracket is complete. Any page already showing named first-round matchups for 2027 is describing last season’s tournament.
How the first-round bracket is set
The NBA playoff bracket is fixed from the moment it is set — there is no reseeding and no redraw between rounds. In each conference, the first round pairs the seeds like this:
| First-round series | Matchup | Home-court edge |
|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | No. 1 vs No. 8 | No. 1 seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 |
| Series 2 | No. 4 vs No. 5 | No. 4 seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 |
| Series 3 | No. 2 vs No. 7 | No. 2 seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 |
| Series 4 | No. 3 vs No. 6 | No. 3 seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 |
The bracket paths are set in stone alongside the pairings: the winner of 1-vs-8 meets the winner of 4-vs-5 in the conference semifinals, and the winner of 2-vs-7 meets the winner of 3-vs-6. Because nothing gets reseeded, you can trace any team’s route to the Finals the day the bracket comes out — a perk the fixed format has over the reseeded systems other leagues use.
What does best-of-seven actually mean?
Every playoff series is a race to four wins. Win four and you advance; lose four and you go home. A series can end in four, five, six or seven games, and in a tight 3-3 series the entire season comes down to a single Game 7 on the higher seed’s floor.
Home-court advantage follows the 2-2-1-1-1 format: the higher-seeded team hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, while the lower seed hosts Games 3, 4 and 6. Finishing above your opponent in the standings is worth a real edge — the extra home game and, crucially, home floor if it goes the distance. Put the maths together and a champion needs 16 wins across the four rounds — four wins per series, four series, no shortcuts.
How the four rounds unfold
The bracket works like a funnel. The first round trims 16 teams to eight: eight series, four in each conference, played through late April. The winners feed directly into the conference semifinals, four series that cut the field to four, and then the conference finals — two series, one per conference — decide the last two teams standing.
The NBA Finals is the only series where East meets West. The two conference champions play for the title, and home-court advantage goes to whichever team posted the better regular-season record — seeding no longer matters at this point. The Finals land in June 2027; the league has not yet confirmed the exact Game 1 date, so treat any June tip times you see online as unconfirmed until the NBA announces them.
Where the playoffs sit in the 2027 calendar
By mid-April the season’s earlier landmarks are already history: the Emirates NBA Cup concluded back in December, the trade deadline passed on February 11, and All-Star Weekend in Phoenix wrapped up in February. The 2026-27 season key dates page maps the full journey from opening night on October 20 through this April finale.
Once the first round starts on April 17, the postseason runs through May and into June, when the Finals crown the 2027 champion. The full bracket shape — first round, conference semifinals, conference finals, Finals — has not changed in decades, so the only thing to watch as April approaches is which 16 teams fill it.
Playoffs FAQs
When do the 2027 NBA playoffs start?
Saturday, April 17, 2027, per the league’s published 2026-27 calendar — the day after the SoFi Play-In Tournament ends on April 16. The first-round series begin immediately.
How many teams make the NBA playoffs?
Sixteen — the top eight from each conference. The top six in each conference qualify directly; the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds are decided by the Play-In Tournament.
Is the NBA playoff bracket reseeded between rounds?
No. The bracket is fixed: 1-vs-8, 2-vs-7, 3-vs-6 and 4-vs-5 in each conference, and winners advance along set paths with no redraw. You can trace a team’s route to the Finals as soon as the bracket is set.
How does home-court advantage work in the playoffs?
The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 of its series (the 2-2-1-1-1 format). In the NBA Finals, home court goes to the team with the better regular-season record.
How many wins does it take to win the NBA championship?
Sixteen. A champion wins four games in each of four best-of-seven rounds — first round, conference semifinals, conference finals and the NBA Finals.
Conclusion
The 2027 NBA playoffs begin April 17: 16 teams in a fixed best-of-seven bracket, four rounds, and 16 wins between the first tip and the championship. The Play-In sets the last seeds, the league’s calendar sets the dates, and from there it is win-or-go-home logic all the way to the June Finals. When the first round tips off, the NBA scores page carries every night’s results and each series score.
