NBA 2026–27: why the standings have not started yet

The 2026–27 NBA standings do not yet have regular-season results because, as of October 14, 2026, the league is in preseason. Official play begins on October 20. Therefore, if an interface shows every team at 0–0, it means no regular-season win or loss has been recorded—not that the exhibition games ended in ties.

There is an important qualification: the official NBA standings page viewed on this date still labels its displayed table as the 2025–26 regular-season standings and does not offer 2026–27 in the visible selector. The schedule supports explaining why the new season has no official results yet, but this page does not establish that the NBA has already published a 2026–27 table showing every team at 0–0.

Preseason and official standings are separate records

October games before opening night are listed as preseason contests on team schedules, but their results do not enter the regular season’s win and loss columns. The official Chicago Bulls schedule, for example, lists preparation games against the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets before matchups at the Milwaukee Bucks on October 14 and at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 16.

The same page clearly separates those “Preseason” games from Chicago’s regular-season opener: a road game against the Toronto Raptors on October 21. The preseason record displayed on the team page should consequently not be carried into the Eastern Conference standings.

When wins begin to count

According to the official 2026–27 schedule announcement, the NBA’s 81st regular season starts Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Opening day features the Boston Celtics at the Detroit Pistons at 3 p.m. ET, the Philadelphia 76ers at the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. ET and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 p.m. ET. Times are in U.S. Eastern Time, as published by the league.

Those are the first games that can change official 0–0 records. Because Chicago does not open until the following day, its row will still have no completed games after other teams have begun playing. The standings may therefore temporarily show teams with different numbers of games played.

The regular season concludes April 11, 2027, with all 30 teams in action. Dates and arrangements are subject to change, so check the league or team schedule before following a game.

How the table is organized

The NBA standings can be grouped by conference or division, with views for overall performance, streaks, margins and records against division or conference opponents. The Eastern and Western conferences are the principal framework for postseason qualification and seeding.

Each team plays 82 regular-season games. The released schedule assigns dates and opponents for 80 games per team. The other two will be determined by Emirates NBA Cup Group Play results and played from December 4 through December 10. That is why an early schedule may not display every final matchup even though the season format still calls for 82 games.

What to check after the standings update

For a quick reading, the key columns are wins, losses and winning percentage. Games played also matter: early in the season, two teams with the same win total can have different percentages if one has played more games.

Preseason results provide context on preparation but produce no standings advantage. They should not be manually added to the regular-season record. The safest approach is to select the correct season on the official page once 2026–27 becomes available and verify whether the chosen view covers a conference, division or another statistical split.

How ties are broken

The NBA’s published procedures apply to postseason qualification, seeding and division championships. For a two-team tie, the first criterion is the better winning percentage in head-to-head games. Next come division-winner status; winning percentage within the division when both teams are in the same one; and winning percentage within the conference.

The sequence then considers performance against postseason-eligible teams in the same conference, performance against eligible teams in the opposite conference and, finally, overall point differential. With more than two tied teams, division-winner status comes first, followed by winning percentage in games among the tied teams. If a criterion separates only part of the group, the appropriate sequence restarts for those still tied. If the procedures do not break the tie, positions are determined by random drawing.

The bottom line on October 14

For now, scores shown on team schedules belong to preseason. The regular season begins October 20, and only those results feed the 2026–27 standings. The standings page viewed on October 14 still displays 2025–26, so readers should check its season selector again when the new table is made available.