The 2026-27 NBA regular season opens Tuesday, Oct. 20 with a highly-anticipated triple-header, as all 30 franchises are beginning with a clean slate. And all teams are chasing the New York Knicks, who snapped a 53-year title drought with a historic run through the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
Yet, no team has repeated as NBA champion in eight seasons, not since the Golden State Warriors did so in 2018.
The NBA, however, did see some seismic changes in the offseason, none more impactful than in the Eastern Conference, where the Miami Heat acquired two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, where the Philadelphia 76ers pried away LeBron James and Jaylen Brown and where Kawhi Leonard is returning to Toronto to lead the Raptors.
In any case, it’s a new day, and optimism abounds. The title pursuit begins now.
With that in mind, here are the record predictions for the entire 2026-27 NBA season, with a sneek peek at the playoffs below.
NBA regular-season record projections
Predicting how each division will shake out following 82 games in the 2026-27 season:
NBA playoff projections
Our predictions for the 2026-27 NBA postseason from the first round in each conference to the NBA Finals:
Eastern Conference
First round
- (1) 76ers def. (8) Raptors
- (2) Knicks def. (7) Cavaliers
- (3) Pacers def. (6) Pistons
- (4) Heat def. (5) Celtics
Conference semifinals
- (1) 76ers def. (4) Heat
- (3) Pacers def. (2) Knicks
Conference finals
- (1) 76ers def. (3) Pacers
Western Conference
First round
- (1) Thunder def. (8) Suns
- (2) Spurs def. (7) Jazz
- (3) Timberwolves def. (6) Lakers
- (4) Rockets def. (5) Nuggets
Conference semifinals
- (1) Thunder def. (4) Rockets
- (3) Timberwolves def. (2) Spurs
Conference finals
- (1) Thunder def. (3) Timberwolves
2027 NBA Finals
- Thunder def. 76ers
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA record projections for all 30 teams: Are Thunder still top threat?