How Do The Playoffs Work In The NBA?

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NBA regular season. Qualification into the playoffs is determined by a team’s record in their conference.

NBA Playoffs Format

The NBA regular season is 82 games long, and it typically runs from October to April. At the end of the regular season, the top eight teams in each conference (Eastern and Western) qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament, meaning that once a team loses, they are out of the playoffs.

The First Round

The First Round of the NBA Playoffs is a best-of-seven series between the eight playoff teams in each conference that are seeded Nos. 1-8. The higher seed hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary); the lower seed hosts Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary).

The Conference Semifinals

In the Conference Semifinals, the four remaining teams in each conference play each other in two best-of-seven series. The team with the better regular-season record has home-court advantage in each series.

The Conference Semifinals are also referred to as the Conference Semis or Conference Second Round.

The Conference Finals

The Conference Finals are the final round of the playoffs before the NBA Finals. The Conference Finals are a best-of-seven series between the two teams in each conference that advanced from the Semifinals. The four remaining teams are seeded according to their respective regular-season records.

The team with the better record plays host to Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary); the other team plays at home for Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) and, if necessary, Game 6. Home-court advantage in the Conference Finals is determined by regular-season record, not by seeding.

###How Are The NBA Playoffs Formatted?
The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among sixteen teams in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference. After the first round, which consists of four best-of-seven series featuring eight teams from each conference (seeded according to regular season record), the winners of those series advance to the second round, or conference semifinals. The conference semifinal winners then advance to their respective conference finals. The conference champions proceed to play each other in the NBA Finals.

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 Winners of the NBA Finals are awarded the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy, which replaced the Walter A. Brown Trophy in 1983.

The series was initially known as the BAA Finals prior to the 1949–50 season when the Basketball Association of America (BAA) merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the NBA. The competition oversaw further name changes to NBA World Championship Series from 1950 to 1985, as well as a brief tenure as the Showdown, before settling on NBA Finals in 1986.

The NBA Finals was structured differently prior to 1971. From 1947 to 1949, it was a best-of-seven series where each team played each other at least twice (depending on how many times they met during the regular season). The first round was expanded from a best-of-5 to a best-of-7 in 1951 and 1953; it remained a best-of-7 until it went back to being a best-of-5 in 1969 when both conferences were reduced from 10 teams down to 9 after losing one team each via franchise contraction. It went back again to being a best-of-7 in 1987, when both conferences were once again expanded from 9 back up to 10 teams with the addition of new franchises Charlotte and Miami; and finally became its current format where each conference has 8 playoff teams while both divisions within each conference have 4 playoff teams apiece following yet another expansion with Vancouver and Minnesota in 1995 which brought both conferences up to 15 teams apiece, thus necessitating that one team within each division would not qualify for postseason play. Under this current format, 8 teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs; these teams are seeded 1–8 based on their regular season record. Seeds 1–3 receive a bye into the second round (quarterfinals), while seeds 4–7 compete in two best-offive rounds before seeds 1–3 join them in round 2 and quarterfinals respectively. In all rounds except for qualifying rounds, if one team wins three games before all five games have been played then that team wins that round series and no further games need be played. If a qualifying round is necessary then it takes place between rounds 1 and 2, pitting seeds 4 against 5 and 6 against 7; these two winners advance into round 2 proper where they join seeds 1 through 3 who had byes into that round originally.”

NBA Playoff Seeding

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NBA’s regular season to determine the league’s champion. The playoffs follow a tournament format. Each team plays an opponent in a best-of-seven series with the first team to win four games advancing to the next round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs.

The Regular Season

In the NBA, the regular season is when each team plays 82 games. These games are used to determine playoff seeding. The regular season starts in October and ends in April. The playoffs start in April and end in June.

The NBA is split into two conferences – the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference has three divisions. The divisions are:

-Atlantic Division
-Central Division
-Southwest Division
-Northwest Division
The conference standings are determined by each team’s win-loss record. The team with the best record in each conference is seeded first, the team with the second-best record is seeded second, and so on down to the eighth seed. In order for a team to make the playoffs, they must finish in the top eight of their conference standings.

The Playoffs

At the end of the regular season, the playoffs begin. The playoffs are a best-of-seven series between the eight best teams in each conference.

The team with the better record gets home court advantage, meaning they get to play four of the seven games at home. The first team to win four games in the series advances to the next round, while the losing team is eliminated from playoff contention.

In each subsequent round, the surviving teams compete in another best-of-seven series, until only one team remains in each conference. These two teams then advance to The Finals to compete for the NBA championship.

NBA Playoff Bracket

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament annually held after the NBA’s regular season to determine the league’s champion. Seeds are awarded in strict order of regular-season record. The tournament brackets are made up of 16 teams, 8 from the Western Conference and 8 from the Eastern Conference.

The First Round

In the First Round of the NBA Playoffs, the three division winners in each conference (seeded 1-3) and the team with the next best record in each conference (seeded 4) are matched up in two best-of-seven series. The division winner with the best record plays the eighth seed, while the two other division winners play each other, and the team with the second best record in each conference plays the seventh seed.

The Conference Semifinals

Once the first round is complete, the Conference Semifinals (or Conference Semis) take place. The Semifinals are a best-of-seven series between the top four teams in each conference. The matchup is based on seeding, with the #1 seed playing the #4 seed and the #2 seed playing the #3 seed. The higher-seeded team will have home-court advantage.

For example, in the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs, the Golden State Warriors (the #1 seed) played the Houston Rockets (the #4 seed) and the Portland Trail Blazers (the #3 seed) played the Denver Nuggets (the #2 seed).

The Conference Finals

The Conference Finals are the final round of the NBA Playoffs. The two teams that advance from the Conference Semifinals face off against each other in a best-of-seven series. The team that wins the Conference Finals will advance to the NBA Finals.

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.