NBA Playoffs: 2025 start date, schedule, how to watch, format & odds

The Boston Celtics are NBA champions for the 18th time in franchise history, defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals.

With the 2023/24 NBA season now in the rearview, let's look ahead to next postseason.

Continue reading for all you need to know about the NBA Playoffs, including 2025 start date, schedule, how to watch, format, odds and more.

When do the 2025 NBA Playoffs start?

There is no official start date for the 2025 NBA Playoffs, although it is expected to begin in mid-April following the NBA Play-In Tournament.

In 2024, the NBA Playoffs began on April 20.

When are the 2025 NBA Finals?

There is no official start date for the 2025 NBA Finals, although it is expected to begin in early June.

In 2024, the NBA Finals began on June 6.

Read more about the NBA Finals, including schedule, history, how to watch and more on site.

2025 NBA Playoffs schedule

The official 2025 NBA Playoffs schedule is expected to become available towards the end of the 2024/25 regular season. Below is a rough estimate of when each playoff round will begin.

First round: Mid-April 2025

Second round: Early May 2025

Conference Finals: Late May 2025

NBA Finals: Early June 2025

How to watch the NBA Playoffs, TV channel and streaming

The NBA Playoffs will be broadcast across ESPN, ABC, TNT, truTV and NBA TV in the United States. There will also be some first-round games shown on regional sports networks.

ESPN and ABC will broadcast the Eastern Conference Finals, while TNT will broadcast the Western Conference Finals. The NBA Finals will air on ABC.

The 2024/25 season is the last of a nine-year deal in which ESPN, TNT and NBA TV hold rights to broadcast NBA games.

NBA Playoffs format

While NBA teams play an 82-game regular season, it's the Playoffs which decide who ends the campaign as the champions. 

The regular season standings are taken after the final game and used to map out the bracket, which charts the route to the NBA Finals for every contender.

Each round of the playoffs is a seven game series, meaning the first team to four wins advances.

Matchups are set based regular season standings. In the first round, the team that finishes first in the standings plays the lower-ranked team to advance from the Play-In, the team that came in second plays the higher-seeded Play-In team, the third-placed team plays the sixth-placed team, and the fourth- and fifth-placed teams face off.

Then, the winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8 plays the winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5, and the winner of No. 2 vs. No. 7 plays the winner of No. 3 vs. No 6. Then the last two teams remaining in each conference face off in the Conference Finals, and the winners of those series play in the NBA Finals.

How many teams make the NBA Playoffs?

The NBA Playoffs feature 16 teams, with eight teams from both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference making it into the postseason. 

Previously, the top eight teams from both sets of standings qualified for the Playoffs. However, that's been changed by the addition of the Play-In Tournament. 

Now teams from seventh to 10th from the east and west face off for the final two Playoff spots in each conference.