NBA Playoff Picture 2026: Playoff Bracket if Season Ended Today

When Do the 2026 NBA Playoffs Start?

Mark it down (or pretend you won’t forget): the 2026 NBA Playoffs tip off on April 18, a clean six days after the regular season mercifully wraps up.

Here’s the current NBA playoff bracket if the season ended today:

The 2025–26 regular season ends on April 12, followed immediately by the annual chaos generator known as the Play-In Tournament, which runs from April 14–17. This is the league’s way of making sure nobody truly checks out before April, and of course, to keep fan bases emotionally invested just a little longer.

How Many Teams Make the NBA Playoffs?

Sixteen teams total make the postseason:

Eight from the Eastern Conference
Eight from the Western Conference

Nothing fancy here, except that the final two seeds in each conference aren’t decided the old-fashioned way anymore. Instead, they’re settled via the play-in, because apparently finishing 7th through 10th wasn’t stressful enough already.

How the NBA Play-In Tournament Works

The play-in format (introduced in 2021 to discourage tanking… allegedly) gives teams ranked 7 through 10 one last chance to sneak into the bracket — or implode on national TV.

Here’s how it breaks down:

No. 7 vs. No. 8
Winner grabs the No. 7 seed and earns the privilege of facing the No. 2 seed in Round 1.
Loser? Not dead yet — they get one more shot.
No. 9 vs. No. 10
Loser goes home. Winner advances to a do-or-die game.
Final Play-In Game
The loser of the 7-8 matchup hosts the winner of 9-10.
Winner earns the No. 8 seed and gets rewarded with a Round 1 date against the No. 1 seed, which is the basketball equivalent of “congrats, now suffer.”