How Many Games Does it Take to Win an NBA Playoff Series?
Contents
The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven format, meaning that a team has to win four games in order to advance to the next round. So, how many games does it take to win an NBA playoff series?
Introduction
The NBA Playoffs are a best-of-seven series. That means that the first team to win four games in the series advances to the next round of the playoffs.
If the team that has homecourt advantage (the higher seed) loses the first two games of the series, they will have to win all three of their remaining home games just to force a Game 7.
Similarly, if the team with homecourt advantage wins the first two games of the series, they only need to win one more game (either on the road or at home) to advance to the next round.
In other words, having homecourt advantage in an NBA Playoff series is a big deal!
The History of the NBA Playoffs
The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament annually held after the NBA’s regular season to determine the league’s champion. The winners of the NBA Finals are awarded the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, which is named after Larry O’Brien, who served as the NBA’s commissioner from 1975 to 1983.
The current playoff format was first used in 1983. Prior to that, different formats were used in different years.
The most common format used prior to 1983 was a best-of-five series. In this format, if one team won three games, that team would be declared the winner of the series and would advance to the next round. If no team won three games after five games had been played, then a seventh game would be played to determine the series winner.
The first NBA Finals under this format were played in 1947 between the Philadelphia Warriors and the Chicago Stags. The Warriors won that series, four games to one. The next year, 1948, saw the introduction of a new rule: if a team was leading a best-of-five series 3–0, that team would automatically win the series (a “three-game sweep”). This rule was in place for only two years; it was then changed so that all best-of-five Finals would be played out regardless of whether one team had already won three games (thus requiring all five games to be played). This rule change meant that there were seven possible outcomes for a best-of-five Finals:
1) A three-game sweep by one team (henceforth called a “clean sweep”), in which case that team becomes champion;
2) A four-game sweep by one team;
3) A 3–1 lead by one team followed by that same team winning in Game 5;
4) A 3–2 lead by one team followed by that same team winning in Game 7;
5) A 2–1 lead by one of the teams followed by three consecutive wins by the other team (henceforth called a “comeback”);
6) A 1–1 tie followed by three consecutive wins by each team ( leading to a Game 5); or
7) A 0–0 tie followed by three consecutive wins by each team (leading to a Game 7).
The above seven possible outcomes can be combined into only four basic types: clean sweeps, comebacks,seven-game Series where one team had initially led two games to none (henceforth called “2–0 leads”), and seven-game Series where neither team had initially led 2–0.
The Format of the NBA Playoffs
An NBA playoff series is a best-of-seven series. The team that wins four games first advances to the next round of the playoffs. If a seventh game is necessary, it is played on the home court of the team with the better regular season record.
The first round of the playoffs, also known as the Conference Semifinals, features the best four teams from each conference. The second round, also known as the Conference Finals, has the two remaining teams from each conference playing against each other. The winners of those series advance to the NBA Finals to play against each other for the NBA championship.
In recent years, it has taken an average of five and a half games to win an NBA playoff series. However, it can take as few as four games or as many as seven games to win a series. In some cases, a team may even lose the first two games at home and still come back to win the series.
How Many Games Does it Take to Win an NBA Playoff Series?
It takes four wins to advance in the NBA playoffs. A game seven is only necessary if the series is tied at two games apiece. So, in other words, it takes four games to win an NBA playoff series.
The First Round
In the first round of the playoffs, each team plays its opponent in a best-of-seven series. The team that wins four games first advances to the next round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs.
The Conference Semifinals
In the conference semifinals, teams that finish the regular season with the best record in their conference are matched up against the winners of the first round series. The two teams that win their best-of-seven series advance to the conference finals.
The Conference Semifinals are a best-of-seven series. The team that has the home court advantage plays four of the seven games at home. In 2015, the Golden State Warriors had the best record in the NBA and played the Houston Rockets in the Conference Semifinals. The Warriors won the series 4-1 and went on to play in the Conference Finals.
The Conference Finals
After the first two rounds of the playoffs, the conference finals are a best-of-seven series. This round of the playoffs features the winners of the Eastern and Western Conference semifinals.
The NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The winning team of the series receives the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
Conclusion
It is clear that it takes more than four games to win an NBA playoff series. In fact, it generally takes around six or seven games. This is because there are a lot of highly skilled teams in the playoffs, and the competition is generally very evenly matched. As such, it often takes a full seven-game series for one team to finally come out on top.
