How the NBA season works: 82 games, the play-in, playoffs, NBA Cup and draft lottery

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An NBA season runs from October to June, and the calendar has more moving parts than it used to. Here is how the pieces fit together, from opening night to the draft.

Thirty teams, two conferences

The league has 30 teams split into the Eastern and Western Conferences, with 15 in each. Each conference has three divisions of five teams. Standings and seeding are decided by conference, so a team's real rivals for a playoff place are the other 14 teams in its conference.

The regular season

Each team plays 82 games, 41 at home and 41 away, from October to mid-April. Teams play opponents in their own conference more often than those in the other conference. Final win-loss records decide the conference standings, with tiebreakers such as head-to-head record when teams finish level.

The NBA Cup

Since 2023 the season has included an in-season tournament, now called the NBA Cup, played in November and December. In its recent format:

Teams are drawn into six groups of five, three groups in each conference.
Each team plays four group games, one against each group opponent, on set nights during the early season.
The six group winners and two wild cards (the best second-placed team in each conference) reach the knockout stage.
Quarter-finals are single games in team markets; the semi-finals and the final have been played in Las Vegas.
Group games and knockout games count towards the regular-season record, except the final, which is an extra game.

The format has been tweaked between editions, so check the league's own explainer each season.

All-Star weekend

In February the season pauses for All-Star weekend, with skills events, the dunk contest, the three-point contest and the All-Star Game itself. Fan, player and media voting picks the starters; coaches choose the reserves. The game's format has changed several times in recent years, so look up the current version before watching.

The trade deadline

Teams can trade players until the trade deadline, usually in early February. After it, rosters are largely set for the rest of the season, apart from signing free agents.

The play-in tournament

After the regular season, the teams finishing 7th to 10th in each conference play a short tournament for the last two playoff places:

7th hosts 8th. The winner becomes the 7th seed.
9th hosts 10th. The loser is out.
The loser of 7 v 8 hosts the winner of 9 v 10. The winner becomes the 8th seed.

Seeds 1 to 6 go straight to the playoffs.

The playoffs

Sixteen teams, eight per conference, play four rounds, each a best-of-seven series:

First round: 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5.
Conference semi-finals.
Conference finals.
The NBA Finals, East champion against West champion, usually in June.

The higher seed has home advantage, hosting games 1, 2, 5 and 7. There is no reseeding: the bracket is fixed once the first round is set.

The draft lottery

The 14 teams that miss the playoffs, including those knocked out in the play-in, go into the draft lottery in May. Under the system used since 2019, the three worst records have the best odds, 14% each, of winning the first pick, and the lottery draws only the top four picks. The remaining picks follow in reverse order of record. Playoff teams then pick in reverse order of record too. The NBA Draft is held in late June, two rounds of 30 picks each, though traded picks mean some teams have several and some have none.

After the draft

Free agency opens around the start of July, followed by the Summer League in Las Vegas, where rookies get their first games. Training camps open in late September, and the cycle starts again. Which part of the NBA calendar do you find most confusing, or which team are you following this season? Share your questions in the comments.