NBA playoffs 2024: First-round news, schedule, scores and highlights

The 2023-24 NBA regular season is complete and the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs is almost here. Expect plenty of drama after a memorable regular season.

The Boston Celtics clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in March and have homecourt advantage through the entire postseason as they look to return to the Finals for the first time since 2022 and hang an NBA championship banner for the first time since 2008. They'll await the results of the play-in tournament to know their first-round opponent, as will the No. 2 seed New York Knicks.

In the West, the defending championDenver Nuggetsare the 2-seed, behind the top-seededOklahoma City Thunder, who are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and are looking to win the team's first NBA championship since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008.

After the play-in tournament, the 16-team NBA playoffs will begin with four games on Saturday and four more on Sunday. Eight teams from each conference will reach the first round and face off in a best-of-7 series to advance. All four rounds of the NBA playoffs are best-of-7, and teams are not reseeded after each round. The team with the better regular-season record in each series will have homecourt advantage for that series. All series are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the team with the better record hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary).

We'll have complete coverage of the NBA playoffs all the way through the 2024 NBA Finals, which tip off on June 6 on ABC and the ESPN app.

MORE: Play-in tournament coverage| Previewing all 20 postseason teams | What eliminated teams need to do this summer?

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Boston Celtics (1) vs. TBD (8)

• Holiday lands contract extension ahead of playoffs


• Celtics set NBA record with 0 FT in loss to Bucks


• Pelton's regular-season grades: Celtics get an A

New York Knicks (2) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (7)

• Knicks clinch 2-seed on season's final day


• Randle's season ends due to shoulder injury


• How OG Anunoby turbocharged the Knicks' offense

Milwaukee Bucks (3) vs. Indiana Pacers (6)

• Lillard back in limited practice as Bucks' G1 nears


• Sources: Bucks preparing to be without Giannis to start playoffs


• Bucks look to put emotions aside vs. familiar foe


• Pacers avoid play-in on season's final day


• Game balls, Dame Time taunts and the budding Bucks-Pacers beef

Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs. Orlando Magic (5)

• Magic win on season's final day to set up first-round series with Cavs


• Cavs' LeVert maintains resilience after cancer surgery in 2021


• Inside the beef between Dan Gilbert and Mat Ishbia


• How a 5-20 slump turned the Magic into one of the NBA's best surprises

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs. TBD

Denver Nuggets (2) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (7)

LA Clippers (4) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5)

• The moment that transformed Westbrook and the Clippers' title chase


• Washington, Gafford raise Mavericks' title hopes


• How Paul George became the archetype for an NBA generation


• The Mavs' gamble on the Kyrie-Luka partnership is paying off