NBA playoff bracket
The real bracket, not a blank ladder. Pick your way through both conferences and see who you've got lifting the trophy.
The bracket
Seeds fill in once the standings exist. The structure is real - this is the bracket the postseason is played on.
Every round is best-of-7, so a series win takes 4 games.
Want it to score itself?
Run this bracket as a free pool - everyone fills theirs in, results score automatically, and the leaderboard settles who actually called it.
How the bracket works
An NBA playoff bracket is sixteen teams and fifteen series: eight from each conference, seeded on regular-season record, with the two halves kept apart until the Finals. This one loads that structure with the current seeding already in place, so you're filling in a real bracket rather than typing a list of teams into an empty box.
- Start from the real bracket. The 16-team NBA playoffs bracket loads with this season's seeding already in place - 8 teams from each conference, East on one side and West on the other.
- Pick a winner in every series. Click the team you think survives and they move into the next round. Change your mind and later rounds clear themselves, so the bracket can never show a team that is no longer playing.
- Follow it to the final. Work through First Round, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals and NBA Finals until one team is left holding the trophy.
- Copy it or make it count. Copy your picks to paste into the group chat, or run the same bracket as a free pool so it scores itself against the real results.
No sign-up, nothing saved, nothing to install. Refresh and you're back to the real seeding.
How the NBA playoffs bracket is decided
16 teams, 4 rounds, one trophy.
Sixteen teams, eight a side
Eight teams from each conference, seeded 1 to 8 on regular-season record. The first round pairs 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 inside each conference, and the two halves stay separate until the Finals - so an Eastern team cannot meet a Western one before the last series.
The bracket does not re-seed
Once the first round is set, the path is fixed: the 1 v 8 winner meets the 4 v 5 winner no matter who survives. That is why an upset opens up a whole side of the bracket here, and it is the opposite of the NFL, which re-seeds every round so the top team always draws the lowest survivor.
The play-in decides the 7 and 8 seeds
Seeds 7 to 10 in each conference play a mini-tournament first: 7 v 8 wins the 7 seed outright, and the loser plays the 9 v 10 winner for the 8 seed. Play-in games are not part of the bracket - the bracket starts once those two spots are settled.
Every series is best-of-seven
All four rounds are best-of-seven, with home court going to the higher seed. In the Finals it goes to whichever team had the better regular-season record, regardless of conference seed.
The bracket above follows those rules exactly - it is the same structure the NBA playoffs is actually played on, not a generic knockout ladder.
FAQ
How does the NBA playoff bracket work?+
Sixteen teams make the playoffs - eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western. Inside each conference the first round pairs 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5. Winners meet in the Conference Semifinals, then the Conference Finals, and the two conference champions meet in the NBA Finals. Every round is best-of-seven.
Does the NBA re-seed the bracket after each round?+
No. Once the first round is set the path is fixed - the 1 v 8 winner meets the 4 v 5 winner whoever survives. That is why one upset opens up an entire side of the bracket. It is the opposite of the NFL, which re-seeds every round so the top remaining seed always draws the lowest.
Is the play-in tournament part of the bracket?+
No, it decides who gets into it. Seeds 7 to 10 in each conference play first: the 7 v 8 game wins the 7 seed outright, and its loser plays the 9 v 10 winner for the 8 seed. Only once those two spots are settled does the sixteen-team bracket start, which is why play-in games don't appear here.
How many games do you need to win a series?+
Four. Every round is best-of-seven, played 2-2-1-1-1, with home-court advantage going to the higher seed. In the Finals home court goes to whichever team had the better regular-season record, no matter which conference they came from.
Can I fill the bracket in and share it?+
Yes. Click a team in any series and they advance; change your mind and the later rounds clear themselves so the bracket never shows a team that is no longer playing. Copy your picks to paste into the group chat, or screenshot the board.
Can I run this as a bracket pool with my friends?+
That's the version that scores itself. Run a free NBA pick'em pool on Trofeo.live, everyone fills in their own bracket, results grade automatically against the real games, and a live leaderboard settles who actually called it. Free for groups up to 25.
Is it free?+
Completely free, no login, no spreadsheet. Fill in as many brackets as you like. The only optional paid step is running a pool bigger than 25 players.