NBA Best Ball Playoff Format and Schedule

The playoff dates for Underdog and DraftKings are identical: Feb. 15 through April 4.

The rounds break down as:

Playoff first round: Feb. 15 through March 7

Playoff second round: March 8 through March 21

Playoff third round (finals): March 22 through April 4

While the dates and rounds are the same, the advancement structure differs between UD and DK.

Underdog: The first two rounds consist of 10-person groups. In Round 1, the top two teams advance to Round 2, while only the first-place team in Round 2 advances to the final. This results in a 125-person final, where 72.25% of the prize pool ($361,250) is awarded.

DraftKings: Round 1 consists of 12-person groups, followed by 10-person groups in Round 2. Only the first-place team advances from each of the first two rounds, resulting in a 49-person final. 65.70% of the prize pool ($394,200) is awarded in the final.

The key difference is that UD has a larger final with more teams advancing from Round 1, while DK has a smaller final and requires a first-place finish in both preliminary rounds to advance.

Here is the number of games each team has in the playoffs: