Standings

Final end-of-season standings for every NBA team. See who made the playoffs, who was in the play-in, and how every team finished.

2025-26 Eastern Conference

Final Standings
Team G W L W/L%
6 Playoffs (1–6) 10 Play-In (7–10) 15 Eliminated (11–15)

Playoff Picture

How the NBA Postseason Works

New to the NBA postseason? Here's everything you need to know — from how teams qualify, to how the champion is crowned.

1

Regular Season

The NBA has 30 teams split into two conferences — 15 in the East, 15 in the West. Every team plays 82 games. When the season ends, teams are ranked 1–15 within their conference by win-loss record. Seeds 1–6 automatically qualify for the playoffs. Seeds 7–10 enter the Play-In Tournament. Seeds 11–15 are eliminated.

2

The Play-In Tournament

Seeds 7–10 compete for the final two playoff spots in each conference. The 7th and 8th seeds play first — the winner goes straight to the playoffs as the 7th seed. The loser gets one more chance. The 9th and 10th seeds also play — the loser goes home. The two survivors then play each other: the winner becomes the 8th seed.

Game 1
7vs8
Winner → 7th seed
Game 2
9vs10
Loser → Eliminated
Game 3 — Final chance
Loser G1vsWinner G2
Winner → 8th seed  |  Loser → Eliminated
3

The Playoffs

Each conference has 8 teams seeded 1–8. The bracket is set: 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, 4 vs 5. Every series is best-of-seven. The bracket progresses through the First Round, Conference Semi-Finals, and Conference Finals, producing one champion per conference.

1vs8
4vs5
3vs6
2vs7
Semi-Finals
Semi-Finals
Conference Finals
4

The NBA Finals

The Eastern Conference champion meets the Western Conference champion in a best-of-seven series. The team with the better regular season record hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The other team hosts Games 3, 4 and 6. This is known as the 2-2-1-1-1 format. The winner is crowned NBA Champion.

Eastern
Champion
vs
Western
Champion
NBA Champion
5

Home Court Advantage

The higher-seeded team hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 in any series. This is a significant advantage — winning on the road in a playoff series is considerably harder.

Higher Seed hosts
G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7
Home / Away / Home / Away / Home / Away / Home

Postseason at a Glance

StageTeamsFormat
Regular Season3082 games each
Play-In Tournament8 per conference (seeds 7–10)Win-or-go-home
First Round8 per conferenceBest of 7
Conference Semi-Finals4 per conferenceBest of 7
Conference Finals2 per conferenceBest of 7
NBA Finals2Best of 7
NBA Champion1