The National Basketball Association NBA is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams and is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. It is the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.
NBA: Playoff games today| Games per week| Games this week
Playoff games today:
The 2021 NBA playoff bracket is down to its usual 16 teams after a play-in tournament that featured both thrilling endings and brutal blowouts. Now comes the constant barrage of postseason contests as contenders fight for the right to hold the Larry O’Brien trophy.
NBA playoff games will once again be split between ESPN and TNT. First- and second-round games are scattered across both networks. Every NBA Finals game will be shown exclusively on ABC.
The primary outlets for live streaming 2021 NBA playoff games are Watch ESPN and Watch TNT, both available on desktop and by downloading the mobile apps.
Games per week:
All first games of the 8 first round matchups will be played either May 22 or 23. The NBA finals start Thursday July 8, 2021 and potentially last until July 22.
Both conferences conduct the playoffs in the traditional bracket format. All rounds are best-of-seven series. Series are played in the 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while their opponent hosts games 3, 4, and 6, with games 5, 6 and 7 being played if needed.
Games this week:
The 8 teams with the best record in each conference will play in a best-of-seven series, with the first to win 4 games moving on to the next round. There will be three rounds per conference and then, the NBA Finals, also with a best-of-seven format.
Due to Covid all dates are tentative. The playoffs will start after both the regular season and the play-in tournament.
The NBA regular season ends Sunday, May 16. The play-in tournament starts two days later on Tuesday, May 18 and concludes Friday, May 21. The playoffs start next next day on Saturday, May 22. All first games of the 8 first round matchups will be played either May 22 or 23.
