NBA 2026 Explained: Rules, Format Changes and How the Tournament Works

Semifinals Move Home

The tournament’s semifinal and championship rounds were held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas during its first three years. For 2026, the semifinals will instead take place at the home court of the higher-seeded team in each conference.

The championship will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse, home of the Butler Bulldogs, on Dec. 11. The Indianapolis arena holds 9,100 fans, less than half T-Mobile Arena’s capacity.

Group Play Setup

The NBA randomly divided all 30 teams into six groups of five in August, with three groups in each conference. Teams play each group opponent once, with two games at home and two on the road.

Knockout Round And Ties

Tiebreakers determine group seeds and wild cards; if teams remain tied after the first four group tiebreakers, a random drawing decides. Wild-card ties use the listed tiebreakers except head-to-head record in group play.

Point differential is an important tiebreaker, but overtime does not affect it this year. For an overtime game, both teams receive a point differential of zero.

Remaining Games And Earnings

Quarterfinals and semifinals are played at the better seed’s home arena. Knockout games count toward regular-season records and stats, except for the championship. The 22 teams that do not advance will play two games on Dec. 6, 7, 9 or 10. Two matchups will be between teams from different conferences; the other 20 will be conference games between teams scheduled to meet three times during the season. Quarterfinal losers will face each other in a regular-season game on Dec. 7, 9 or 10.

The 2026 prize amounts have not been announced. The article lists 2025 player earnings but does not provide the figures; head coaches received the same amount as players, and assistants received a smaller share. Each roster’s three two-way players received 50% of the potential earnings for each round.