2023 NBA playoffs
| Dates | April 15 – June 18, 2023 |
|---|
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.
Overview
Updates to postseason appearances
- The Boston Celtics will enter the postseason for the ninth consecutive season, currently the longest such streak in the NBA.
- The Milwaukee Bucks will enter the postseason for the seventh consecutive season.
- The Philadelphia 76ers will enter the postseason for the sixth consecutive season.
- The Denver Nuggets will enter the postseason for the fifth consecutive season.
- The Memphis Grizzlies 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 Charlotte Hornets will miss the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, currently the longest active postseason drought in the NBA.
Format
Eight teams from each conference participated in the playoffs. The top six teams in each conference, based on winning percentage, directly qualified for the playoffs; the seeding order of those teams was also based on winning percentage. If two or more teams had the same record, standard NBA tiebreaker rules were used.
The NBA Board of Governors adopted a format to have a play-in tournament involving the teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The 7th place team and 8th place team participated in a "double-chance" game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the 7-seed. The loser then played 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 then proceeded as normal.[1]
Each conference's bracket was fixed with no reseeding. All rounds were best-of-seven series; a series ended when one team won four games, and that team advanced to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, were in a 2–2–1–1–1 format with regards to hosting. In the conference playoffs, home court advantage went to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). Conference seedings were ignored for the NBA Finals: home court advantage went to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties were 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.[2]
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).
Eastern Conference
Updated through April 3, 2023.
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in berth | Playoff berth | Division title | Best record in conference |
Best record in NBA | |||
| 1 | Milwaukee Bucks | 56–22 | — | March 14[2] | March 28[3] | ||
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 54–24 | — | March 18[4] | |||
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 51–27 | — | March 21[5] | — | — | |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 49–30 | — | March 26[6] | — | — | — |
| 5 | New York Knicks | 46–33 | — | April 2[7] | — | — | — |
| 6 | Brooklyn Nets | 43–35 | — | — | — | ||
| † | Miami Heat | 41–37 | — | — | |||
| † | Atlanta Hawks | 39–39 | — | — | |||
| † | Toronto Raptors | 39–39 | April 2[8] | — | — | — | |
| † | Chicago Bulls | 38–40 | — | — | — | ||
† Teams ranked 7 through 10 will participate in the play-in tournament to determine seeds 7 and 8.
Western Conference
| Seed | Team | Record | Clinched | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in berth | Playoff berth | Division title | Best record in conference |
Best record in NBA | |||
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | 52–26 | — | March 16[9] | March 16[9] | ||
| 2 | Memphis Grizzlies | 49–29 | — | March 24[10] | March 22[10] | — | |
| 3 | Sacramento Kings | 47–31 | — | March 29[11] | — | — | |
| 4 | Phoenix Suns | 43–35 | — | — | |||
| 5 | Los Angeles Clippers | 41–38 | — | — | — | ||
| 6 | Golden State Warriors | 41–38 | — | — | — | ||
| † | Los Angeles Lakers | 40–38 | — | — | — | ||
| † | New Orleans Pelicans | 40–38 | — | — | — | ||
| † | Minnesota Timberwolves | 39–40 | — | — | — | ||
| † | Oklahoma City Thunder | 38–41 | — | — | — | ||
† Teams ranked 7 through 10 will participate in the play-in tournament to determine seeds 7 and 8.
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.[12]
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.[13]
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Hawks beat Cavaliers 120-118, help Bucks clinch Central". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ Goss, Nick (March 19, 2023). "Celtics Officially Clinch NBA Playoff Spot for Ninth Straight Season". NBC Boston. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ^ Carlin, Ky (March 21, 2023). "Sixers clinch playoff spot after Nets fall to Cavaliers at home". Sixers Wire. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
- ^ Fedor, Chris (March 26, 2023). "Cavs clinch playoff spot with dominant 108-91 win over Houston Rockets". cleveland.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Bernstein, Jeffrey (April 2, 2023). "Knicks clinch playoff berth with 118-109 win over Wizards". AP News. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ "Raptors locked into play-in tournament after Nets win over Jazz". Sportsnet. April 2, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Lage, Larry (March 16, 2023). "Nuggets top Pistons to end skid, clinch Northwest Division". AP News. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Bailey, Clay (March 24, 2023). "Grizzlies clinch playoff berth with 151-114 rout of Rockets". AP News. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ^ Spears, Marc (March 30, 2023). "Kings clinch first playoff berth since 2006 with win over Blazers". espn.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
- ^ "ESPN and ABC's star-studded 2022-23 NBA television schedule". NBA.com. August 17, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ^ The Athletic Staff (October 18, 2021). "NBA reaches deal to make Google Pixel first presenting partner of NBA playoffs". TheAthletic.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
