The 2026 NBA playoffs begin Saturday with a bracket that is now fully set, and the Oklahoma City Thunder enter as the Western Conference's third straight No. 1 seed. The first round starts with eight teams from each conference, and the path through the field is locked in from here.
The Play-In Tournament, which began Tuesday, settled the final spots with several narrow turns. The Portland Trail Blazers clinched a playoff berth by beating the Phoenix Suns 114-110, then drew the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs. In the East, the Philadelphia 76ers earned the No. 7 seed Wednesday after defeating the Orlando Magic 109-97 and will meet the No. 2 Boston Celtics. On Friday, the Magic beat the Hornets 121-90 to finalize the No. 1 Detroit Pistons' opening matchup. Later Friday, Phoenix beat Golden State 111-96 to reach the West field after the Warriors had beaten the LA Clippers 126-121 and Charlotte had edged Miami 127-126 in overtime earlier in the week.
The bracket matters because the playoffs no longer reseed after each round. The higher regular-season seed gets home-court advantage in each series, and every round is best of seven in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the better record hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. That means the first-round picture now carries all the way through the conference playoffs, and the NBA Finals are set to begin June 3 on ABC.
That fixed format leaves very little room for surprise once the matchups are drawn, but the schedule still offers immediate pressure points. Detroit opens Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET at home against Orlando, while Boston hosts Philadelphia on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The Pistons and Celtics know their first two home dates, and both series could shift quickly if the lower seeds steal one early.
What remains now is the grind. The playoffs will run into the middle of June, and every result from here feeds a bracket that will not change, even if the balance of power does.
