How does the NBA work and when does the season start?
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The 2025-26 National Basketball Association (NBA) season started on Tuesday, 22 October when defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder beat Houston Rockets in an opening match thriller.
The regular season, as well as the in-season NBA Cup, takes place between October and April.
After that, the play-offs take place to determine the NBA champions, who are crowned in June.
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What is the format?
The NBA's 2024-25 Most Valuable Player Shai GIlgeous-Alexander helped inspire Oklahoma City Thunder to a first NBA Championship since 1979
All 30 teams are evenly split into two conferences of 15 - creating the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.
Each team plays 82 regular season matches between October and April, with the top six teams from each conference qualifying directly into the NBA play-offs.
The teams between seventh and 10th enter the play-in tournament, where two more play-offs spots from each conference are up for grabs.
There are also three divisions in each conference, with teams playing every other team in their division four times in the regular season.
Teams will then play six of the other sides in their conference four times, while taking on the remaining four franchises three times. They will then face all 15 teams in their opposing conference twice.
While the regular season sees teams play against opposition in both the Eastern and Western Conferences, the play-offs are conference specific. All rounds of the play-offs are played in a best of seven-match series.
The winner of the Eastern Conference will face the winner of the Western Conference in the NBA finals in June, with the winner being crowned NBA champions.
List of NBA teams
Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division
Brooklyn Nets
Boston Celtics
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors
Central Division
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks
Southeast Division
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Hornets
Miami Heat
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
Western Conference:
Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Oklahoma City Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers
Utah Jazz
Pacific Division
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Pelicans
San Antonio Spurs
What is the NBA Cup and when does it start?
Giannis Antetokounmpo was part of the Milwaukee Bucks side that won the 2024 NBA Cup
The NBA Cup is an in-season competition where teams compete for a trophy, but results also count towards the overall season standings
The event starts on Friday, October 31, with the final taking place on Tuesday, December 16.
Teams face four teams from their conference and the group winners, as well as the best runner-up from each conference, advance into the quarter-finals.
Like the play-offs, teams only play against opposition in the same conference in the quarter-final and semi-final. Matches are also one-off knockouts, rather than a series.
The winners of each conference will meet in the championship game to determine the NBA Cup winner.
The Milwaukee Bucks are the defending NBA Cup champions, while the first edition in 2023 was won by the Lakers.
Which British players are in the NBA?
London-born OG Anunoby is a key player for the New York Knicks
A record number of four British players will start the 2025-26 season as part of active squads.
Two of them, forwards OG Anunoby and Tosan Evbuomwan, are part of the New York Knicks' squad.
Jeremy Sochan, who plays internationally for Poland, is officially recognised by the NBA as a British player having spent part of his upbringing in England. The San Antonio Spurs forward is heading into his fourth term with the Spurs.
British centre Amari Williams was drafted by the Boston Celtics earlier this year and is on their official list for the start of the season.
In the cases of Evbuomwan and Williams, both have been listed on two-way contracts, meaning they will rotate between their respective teams' NBA sides and G League franchises.
Irish guard CJ Fulton has also been signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but was left out of the Timberwolves' opening night squad list. It means Fulton is likely to start the season as part of Minnesota's G League side, the Iowa Wolves.
When are the NBA international games?
For the first time since 2019, regular season games will be held in the United Kingdom.
In January 2026, the Orlando Magic will face the Memphis Grizzlies three days after the two teams meet in Berlin - the city's first regular season match.
The Dallas Mavericks will also face the Detroit Pistons in Mexico City in November.
NBA's 2025 international games:
November 1, 2025: Detroit Pistons v Dallas Mavericks – Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico
January 15, 2026: Memphis Grizzlies v Orlando Magic – Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany
January 18, 2026: Orlando Magic v Memphis Grizzlies – The O2 Arena, London, Great Britain
Who has won the NBA in recent years?
Since the 2018-19 season, all of the last seven NBA campaigns have been won by different teams.
Prior to that, the Warriors were the most successful franchise in recent years, winning four NBA titles since the 2014-2015 term.
The Celtics, who were 2023-24 champions, are the most successful franchise in NBA history with 18 wins.
Last seven NBA winning sides
2024-25: Oklahoma City Thunder
2023-24: Boston Celtics
2022-23: Denver Nuggets
2021-22: Golden State Warriors
2020-21: Milwaukee Bucks
2019-20: Los Angeles Lakers
2018-19: Toronto Raptors
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