The 2022 NBA playoffs are here. Twenty teams made the postseason, but that number has been trimmed to 18 and will be cut to 16 tonight with the conclusion of the play-in tournament. The first round of the playoffs gets underway Saturday, April 16. After a season full of surprises, the title fight appears to be wide open in both conferences, and there will be plenty of tasty first-round matchups. But things start with the play-in tournament, which kicks off Tuesday night.
The seventh-seeded Nets defeated the Cavaliers in the East and will face the No. 2 Celtics in the first round. In the West, the Timberwolves topped the Clippers as they land the No. 7 seed and the chance to play the upstart Grizzlies in a best-of-seven series. The Hawks and the Pelicans managed to advance from their play-in games on Wednesday night and will square off against the Cavaliers and Clippers, respectively, to determine which teams at the final seeds in the playoffs. You can find our expert play-in predictions here.
The first round will tip off Saturday afternoon, and we know our first matchup: the fourth-seeded Mavericks will host the fifth-seeded Jazz at 1 p.m. ET. 76ers-Raptors, Warriors-Nuggets and the Grizzlies’ series against the West’s No. 7 seed will also get started Saturday before the four other series begin on Sunday.
The full 2022 NBA playoff bracket and this week’s schedule can be found below. Every game on NBATV, ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC can be streamed via fuboTV (Try for free).
This week’s playoff schedule
(All times U.S./Eastern)
Friday, April 15
Cavaliers vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Clippers vs. Pelicans, 10 p.m. (TNT)
Saturday, April 16
Game 1: Mavericks vs. Jazz, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 1: Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 1: 76ers vs. Raptors, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 1: Warriors vs. Nuggets, 8:30 p.m. (ABC)
Sunday, April 17
Game 1: Heat vs. East No. 8, 1 p.m. (TNT)
Game 1: Celtics vs. Nets, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Game 1: Bucks vs. Bulls, 6:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 1: Suns vs. West No. 8, 9 p.m. (TNT)
Monday, April 18
Game 2: 76ers vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 2: Mavericks vs. Jazz, 8:30 p.m. (NBATV)
Game 2: Warriors vs. Nuggets, 10 p.m. (TNT)
Tuesday, April 19
Game 2: Heat vs. East No. 8, TBD (TBD)
Game 2: Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves, TBD (TBD)
Game 2: Suns vs. West No. 8, 10 p.m. (TNT)
Wednesday, April 20
Game 2: Celtics vs. Nets, 7 p.m. (TNT)
Game 3: Raptors vs. 76ers, 8 p.m. (NBATV)
Game 2: Bucks vs. Bulls, 9:30 p.m. (TNT)
NBA play-in tournament results
Tuesday, April 12
Nets 115, Cavaliers 108
Timberwolves 109, Clippers 104
Wednesday, April 13
Hawks 132, Hornets 103
Pelicans 113, Spurs 103
