Sixteen teams in total make the NBA playoffs, eight teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference. The top six seeds in each conference advance based on the regular season record. The final two seeds in each conference are determined by the NBA Play-In Tournament.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, started their postseason journey against the Miami Heat and were dominant, completing a series sweep on Monday with a 138-83 victory in Miami in Game 4. That came on the heels of another blowout, a 124-87 win in Game 3 on Saturday. Games 3 and 4 marked the two worst playoff losses in Miami franchise history.

In a tense Monday-night matchup in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors held off the Houston Rockets 109-106 to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.