William Hill Sites

Sports Vegas Live Casino Bingo Poker Promotions

Media And Support

Podcasts Betting & Casino Apps Help Centre
Basketball

NBA Playoffs 2023: Ultimate Guide for Beginners

NBA Playoffs 2023 Ultimate guide: Everything you need to know

The pinnacle of North American basketball got underway on the 15th of April and will conclude in June as the NBA Playoffs return for another exciting year. It is considered to be the most testing competition in basketball with the best teams from all over North America coming together to compete for Basketball’s most coveted prize. Below we cover the the ins and outs of the tournament including the teams, players, prize money and format.

Below is all the information you need about this year’s NBA playoffs 2023.

Introduction to the NBA playoffs 2023

The NBA play-offs are a post-season tournament, the idea of which is to take successes from the league format regualr season into a knockout style tournament to crown the season’s ultimate champion. The NBA playoffs 2023 started on the 15th of April and will conclude as early as the 9th of June, or as late as the 18th of June depending on how many games it takes to settle the NBA finals.

There are 16 teams competing from the Eastern and Western Conference which will eventually be whittled down to just two, one from each conference, and only one one will be crowned NBA champions.

What are the NBA Playoffs 2023?

The NBA Playoffs are a post-season knockout style tournament played between 16 teams, eight from the Western Conference and eight from the Eastern Conference. These are seen to be the best 16 teams in the world and the knockout style tournament end with the NBA Finals, which crown the NBA Champions, the best team in basketball for that year.

The NBA play-offs has a total prize pool of around 27.5 million dollars. All qualifying teams receive around $328,000. Reaching the conference semi-finals sees the teams pocket $390,000, with the conference finals granting a sum of $645,000. The runners-up in the finals receive $2.5 million while the winners take home around $3.8 million, a relatively small prize for one of the world’s biggest sporting events. The amount of prize money each player receives is down to the teams.

Aside from the money, the playoffs are crowning glories for the careers of many players, and many debates about which player is better than who come down to NBA playoffs and finals records as it is the toughest test in basketball.

When do the NBA Playoffs 2023 Start?

The playoffs begun on the 15th of April and will run until at least the 9th of June, potentially finishing as late as the 18th of June. The 9th of June is when the fourth game of the finals is played – this will only be the end of the finals if one team is 4-0 up in the series. If not, the series will continue until one team has won four games, with the seventh games scheduled for the 18th of June.

Where are the NBA playoffs 2023 played?

The NBA playoffs are not held at a specific venue, with teams playing at their regular season home courts. In a seven-game series the first two games will be played at the higher ranked team’s court with the second two being played at the home of the lower ranked team. If the series continues past four games the venue will alternate, starting with the higher ranked team, in order to give a home advantage to the team with the higher ranking. This will continue until up to seven matches have been played.

Which Teams are Competing in the NBA Playoffs 2023?

Below are the 16 teams who qualified for the playoffs this year, their seed, and their star players.

Eastern conference:

(1) Milwaukee Bucks – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton

(2) Boston Celtics – Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown

(3) Philadelphia 76ers – James Harden, Joel Embiid

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers – Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland

(5) New York Knicks – Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson

(6) Brooklyn Nets – Ben Simmons, Mikal Bridges

(7) Atlanta Hawks – Trae Young, Dejounte Murray

(8) Miami Heat – Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo

Western conference:

(1) Denver Nuggets – Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray

(2) Memphis Grizzlies – Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr.

(3) Sacramento Kings – De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis

(4) Phoenix Suns – Devin Booker, Kevin Durant

(5) Los Angeles Clippers – Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook

(6) Golden State Warriors – Stephen Curry, Draymond Green

(7) Los Angeles Lakers – LeBron James, Anthony Davis

(8) Minnesota Timberwolves – Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns

Bet on NBA Playoffs 2023 at William Hill

Understanding the Format of the NBA Playoffs 2023

In this section we dive into the workings of the NBA playoffs 2023, how the rounds work, how playoff brackets are decided, and what happens in the event of a tie.

How do the NBA Playoffs 2023 Work?

In a straight knockout style tournament, the first phase is an intra conference knockout tournament consisting of three stages. There are two conference brackets consisting of eight teams from each conference in the first round. After a first round, conference semi finals and conference finals stage, there is one team from each conference remaining and they will face off in the NBA Finals, with the winner crowned NBA Champions.

What is the Playoff bracket for the NBA Playoffs 2023?

There are two playoff brackets in the NBA Playoffs 2023, one for the Eastern Conference and one for the Western Conference.

The teams qualify for the playoff brackets through the regular season, with the top eight from each conference entering their respective playoff brackets, seeded one to eight based on their finishing position in their conference in the regular season.

Within the playoff brackets, teams from within the same conference face off in a knockout style tournament with a first round, conference semi finals and conference finals stage, leaving just one team in each bracket who play against each other in the NBA finals.

How many rounds are there in the NBA playoffs 2023?

There are three rounds of intra-conference games, followed by one NBA finals series. We break down how each round works below.

First round: Based on their regular season finish, teams are seeded 1 through 8 within their conference to form an eight team NBA playoff bracket. The number one seed plays the number eight seed with two playing seven, three playing six and four playing five. All of these are seven-game series.

Conference semi-finals: the conference semi-finals are still intra conference games, with the winners of the first round games meeting at this stage. The winners of the first seed vs eighth seed match plays the winner of the fourth vs fifth seed game. The winners of the third seed vs sixth seed match play the winners of the second seed vs seventh seed match. All of these are seven-game series.

Conference finals: After the conference semi-finals stage there are just two teams left in each conference. The two remaining teams in each conference face off against each other in the conference finals, the winners of which will be crowned conference champions.

NBA Finals: The two conference champions go head-to-head in a seven match series with the winner being crowned 2023 NBA Champions.

What happens if a series is tied in the NBA Playoffs 2023?

In a best of seven series there cannot be a tie in the end, as the first team to win four matches will win the series.

In the event of a tie in a singular game an overtime period lasting five minutes will be played and the team with the most points at the end of the overtime will be the winners. There is no limit to the amount of five-minute overtime periods that can be played in a single match.

This ensures that there cannot be a tie in the series.

Bet on NBA Playoffs 2023 at William Hill

Predictions and Analysis for the NBA Playoffs 2023

This section will look at each team’s chances of winning the NBA Playoffs 2023, and their odds in the betting market.

Following wins over the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers in the earlier stages of the play-offs, the Boston Celtics are 11/10 favourites to win the Championship for a record 18th time.

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves and last years finalists the Phoenix Suns in earlier rounds, making them Western Conference favourites and second favourites overall for the championships at 9/4.

Despite being the joint-most successful franchise in history, the Los Angeles Lakers are the underdogs in the Western Conference at 11/4 to add to their 17 championships.

Having qualified for the play-offs in eighth in the Eastern Conference the Miami Heat are the rank outsiders at 12/1, and they don’t look set to win their first championship since 2013.

Bet on NBA Playoffs 2023 at William Hill

 

More Basketball articles you may like

View all Basketball
WHN promotion banner image
3 years ago

2020’s sporting highlights

As 2020 draws to a close, it’s a good chance to look back on what’s been another spectacular year of sport Here’s our run through of...