The 2025 NBA playoff bracket is set as the 2024-25 regular season wrapped up Sunday on a loaded slate that determined seven different seeds in the Western Conference. The Clippers beat the Warriors in the final game of the day to clinch the last playoff spot in the West. The 2025 NBA playoffs will kick off on Saturday, April 19 and all first-round series will begin next weekend.
The Nuggets and Timberwolves also clinched their own playoff spots on Sunday, beating the Rockets and Jazz, respectively.
All 10 Eastern Conference seeds were locked in before Sunday’s action. The No. 1 Cavaliers and No. 2 Celtics will have to wait to see who comes out of the Play-In Tournament to face them in the first round. The two East first-round series we know now? The No. 3 Knicks vs. the No. 6 Pistons and a Pacers vs. Bucks rematch in the conference’s 4-5 matchup.
2025 NBA playoff bracket
East first-round matchups
- No. 1 Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Magic/Hawks/Bulls/Heat
- No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Magic/Hawks
- No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Pistons
- No. 4 Pacers vs. No. 5 Bucks
West first-round matchups
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Warriors/Grizzlies/Kings/Mavericks
No. 2 Rockets vs. No. 7 Warriors/Grizzlies
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Timberwolves
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Clippers
And here are the final regular-season standings.
Eastern Conference standings
Western Conference standings
| Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City – x | 68 | 14 |
| 2 | Houston – x | 52 | 30 |
| 3 | L.A. Lakers – x | 50 | 32 |
| 4 | Denver | 50 | 32 |
| 5 | L.A. Clippers | 50 | 32 |
| 6 | Minnesota | 49 | 33 |
| — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Golden St. | 49 | 33 |
| 8 | Memphis | 48 | 34 |
| 9 | Sacramento | 40 | 42 |
| 10 | Dallas | 39 | 43 |
x = clinched playoff spot
As a reminder: the top six teams in each conference automatically get spots in the 16-team playoff field. The final four playoff spots will be determined by the Play-In Tournament, which will feature Nos. 7-10 in each conference. The seventh-place team hosts the eight-place team to earn the No. 7 seed. The loser of that game will face the winner of a game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams for the No. 8 seed.
Tiebreakers
Here’s how NBA playoff tiebreakers work:
In the event of a two-way tie, the team that won the season series gets the higher seed. If they split the season series and one of the teams won its division, the division winner gets the higher seed. If that doesn’t resolve the tie, then the tiebreakers are, in order: division record (if the teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
In the event that more than two teams are tied, the tiebreakers are, in order: division winner, record against tied teams, division record (if all tied teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
