When are the 2024 NBA Playoffs scheduled to begin?

With the 2023-24 NBA season quickly coming to an end, we take a look at when the 2024 NBA Playoffs are set to begin.

The NBA All-Star Break is officially in the books and the push toward the postseason has arrived. Most teams have less than 30 regular season games before the start of the playoffs and over the final two weeks of the 2023-24 campaign, playoff hopeful teams will be prioritizing seeding. At the same time, tanking teams will try to cement their spots near the top of the draft order.

In short, even though there are only a handful of games left in the season, there is still much at play over the final few weeks. For many NBA fans, the big question revolves around when the postseason will actually begin. With the implementation of the Play-In Tournament, 20 of the 30 teams in the NBA will have at least one meaningful game to play once the regular season ends.

As the NBA schedule resumes, it's only natural to already look forward to what the postseason could hold. So when exactly does the postseason begin for the 2023-24 NBA season?

When does the 2023-24 NBA postseason begin?

The 2023-24 regular season officially ends April 14 and the Play-In Tournament begins April 16 and ends April 19. Once the final two seeds are set (via the Play-In Tournament) in both conferences, the first round of the NBA Playoffs start April 20.

Depending on how long the first-round series are, the conference semifinals are slated to begin at some point between May 4-7. The conference finals are scheduled to begin between May 19-22. The NBA Finals are penciled in to start June 6 and end, at the latest, June 23.

With just a couple of months before the official start of the postseason, there is much intrigue that is going to continue to grow around the league. A few of the biggest storylines in the Eastern Conference revolve around the dominant Boston Celtics, the seemingly lost Milwaukee Bucks, and the emerging Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.

In the Western Conference, all eyes will be on the young Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves to see if they can carry their regular-season success into the playoffs. Additionally, will the Denver Nuggets be able to repeat as champions in a seemingly wide-open West? You also can't help but keep an eye on the red-hot LA Clippers and extremely talented Phoenix Suns.

The final two months of the NBA season, leading into the playoffs will prove to be an exciting time in the Association. Soon enough, the playoffs will be here to add even more intrigue to an already entertaining NBA campaign.