How an NBA season is built
The NBA season runs from training camps in late September and a short preseason in October, through an 82-game regular season from October to mid-April, to the play-in tournament, four rounds of playoffs and the NBA Finals in June. For the 2026–27 season, the regular season is scheduled from October 20, 2026, to April 11, 2027. The league has 30 teams, 29 in the United States and one in Canada, split into two 15-team conferences with three five-team divisions each.
Every team plays 41 home games and 41 road games. That number is the core fact of the NBA ticket market. It is far more than an NFL team's eight or nine home dates and half of a baseball team's 81, so supply is steady, and the difference between a sold-out night and a soft one comes down to who is visiting and what is at stake.
- Preseason: exhibition games in October. Rotations are short, stars often sit, and some games are played abroad.
- Regular season: four games against each division rival, three or four against the rest of the conference, and two against every team in the other conference, one home and one away.
- All-Star break: a pause in mid-February. The 2027 All-Star Game is scheduled for February 21 in Phoenix.
- Postseason: the play-in tournament, three rounds of conference playoffs and the Finals, every round a best-of-seven series.
The NBA Cup, the play-in and the playoffs
Two newer formats now sit inside the calendar, and each creates its own pocket of demand.
The NBA Cup
The NBA Cup (launched in 2023–24 as the In-Season Tournament) is a competition played inside the regular season. Teams are drawn into six groups of five, three per conference, and each plays four group games on designated nights in November and early December. Those games count in the regular-season standings. The two best group teams in each conference host quarterfinals, and the semifinals and championship move to a neutral site. Las Vegas hosted the final rounds from 2023 through 2025; for 2026 the league moved the championship game to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The championship game is the one Cup game that does not count in the standings. Winners so far: the Lakers (2023), the Bucks (2024) and the Knicks (2025).
The play-in tournament
The play-in decides the last two playoff seeds in each conference. The seventh-place team hosts the eighth, and the winner takes the No. 7 seed. The ninth hosts the tenth, and the loser goes home. The loser of the 7–8 game then hosts the winner of the 9–10 game for the No. 8 seed. The league adopted the format permanently in 2022 after trial seasons. The 2027 play-in is scheduled for April 13 to 16. These games are sold on a few days' notice, and the home team is often not known until the final week of the season.
The playoffs and Finals
Sixteen teams, eight per conference, play best-of-seven series. Home-court advantage runs on a 2–2–1–1–1 pattern, so the higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. That matters for buyers: Games 5, 6 and 7 are conditional (played only if needed), and a resale listing for an unplayed game is only as good as the seller's refund terms if the series ends early.
Which games draw the most demand
Because every team has 41 home dates, the opponent and the timing shape demand more sharply in basketball than in most leagues.
- Star visitors and national brands. Teams with large followings, such as the Lakers, Warriors, Celtics and Knicks, lift demand in road arenas, and visiting fans fill noticeable pockets of the building.
- Rivalries. Celtics–Lakers, Knicks–Celtics and the Lakers–Clippers city rivalry draw consistently, as do division games late in a close race.
- Weekends and holidays. Friday and Saturday nights outdraw Monday through Wednesday. Christmas Day, when the league has played since 1947, brings a national slate built around its top teams and players.
- Opening night and the stretch run. The first home game and games in March and April with seeding at stake draw more than a midweek game in January.
- International games. The 2026–27 schedule includes a regular-season game in Mexico City in November and games in Paris and Manchester in January, sold on separate local markets.
The softest dates are usually weeknight games between two teams out of contention, especially in late winter. Those are often the best way to sit lower for the same budget.
The 30 teams by conference and division
Division rivals meet four times a season, so the division is a quick guide to which visitors you will see most often.
Eastern Conference
- Atlantic: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors
- Central: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks
- Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards
Western Conference
- Northwest: Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz
- Pacific: Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings
- Southwest: Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs
History weighs on demand as well. The Celtics hold the league record with 18 titles and the Lakers have 17, which is part of why those two franchises travel so well. Arenas vary too: the Clippers moved into the 18,300-seat Intuit Dome in Inglewood in 2024, leaving Crypto.com Arena to the Lakers, while Madison Square Garden splits its calendar between the Knicks and the NHL's Rangers.
Where to sit at an NBA game
Basketball arenas are compact, so almost every seat is closer to the action than its football or baseball equivalent. The choices that matter are the angle and the height.
- Courtside (the floor-level row along the sideline) is the most expensive seat in the building, with a view that is dramatic but flat; the far side of the court can be hard to read.
- The lower bowl along the sideline (the 100-level sections between the baselines) is the best all-around view. Rows 8 to 20 sit high enough to see plays develop over the players on the bench.
- Behind the baskets is cheaper in the lower bowl, but depth is hard to judge from the baseline, and the stanchion can block the low rows. The end where the home team shoots in the second half sees the closing minutes up close.
- The upper level along the sideline, in the first few rows, often beats a low corner seat for value and shows the whole floor like a broadcast.
The individual arena guides cover each building's section numbering, club levels and the rows to avoid.
How to use the team and arena guides
GoodSeats keeps a guide for every NBA franchise and for the arenas where they play. Use them in that order.
- Team guides cover the franchise's history and identity, its rivals, the home arena and where to sit for basketball there, which games on its schedule draw the most demand and the gameday culture.
- Arena guides cover the building: how the levels and section numbers run, the best seats for basketball and concerts, getting there and the entry and bag rules, which change from season to season, so check the arena's current policy before you go.
Spending on the category keeps rising. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis puts consumer spending on spectator sports admissions at 43.5 billion dollars in 2025, up from 31.3 billion in 2019, in nominal terms (BEA data via FRED). Much of an NBA team's single-game supply comes from season-ticket holders reselling nights they cannot use, which is why a Tuesday in January and a Saturday against a rival can price so differently in the same seat. Every GoodSeats order is backed by a 100% guarantee. For official schedule releases, the league's own site, NBA.com, is the primary source.
Playoff and special-event guides
The postseason has its own guides. The NBA Playoffs page explains the play-in and the bracket, the NBA Conference Finals page covers both third-round series, and the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Western Conference Finals pages cover each series in detail before the NBA Finals.
Frequently asked questions
How many home games does an NBA team play?
Each team plays 82 regular-season games, 41 at home and 41 on the road, plus preseason games and any play-in or playoff games it earns.
When does the NBA season start and end?
Training camps open in late September and preseason games follow in October. The regular season runs from late October to mid-April, the play-in and playoffs follow, and the NBA Finals are played in June.
What is the NBA Cup?
It is a tournament played inside the regular season, introduced in 2023–24. Group games in November and early December count in the standings, and the knockout rounds finish at a neutral site in December. The championship game is the only Cup game that does not count in the standings.
How does the NBA play-in tournament work?
The teams finishing seventh through tenth in each conference play for the last two playoff seeds. The 7–8 winner takes the seventh seed, and the 7–8 loser hosts the 9–10 winner for the eighth seed.
Which NBA games are hardest to get tickets for?
Games against national-brand visitors and rivals, Friday and Saturday nights, Christmas Day games and late-season games with seeding at stake draw the most demand. Playoff games, especially conditional Games 5 through 7, sell on very short notice.
Are courtside seats the best seats?
They are the closest and most expensive, but the view is flat. For watching plays develop, rows 8 to 20 of the lower bowl along the sideline usually give a better overall view.