How Does the NBA Playoff Bracket Work?

The NBA playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held each spring in which the top teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences compete for the NBA championship.

Introduction

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament held after the NBA regular season to determine the league’s champion. The bracket is set so that the top two seeds in each conference (based on regular season record) face each other in the first round, the winners of which advance to face the next seed down, and so forth. In every round except the NBA Finals, home court advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record.

In order to make it to the playoffs, a team must have one of the top eight records in their conference. If two or more teams are tied for a playoff spot, a series of tiebreakers are used to determine who gets in and who doesn’t.

Once the playoff field is set, it’s time for the first round. The higher seeded team in each matchup plays host for games one, two, five, and seven – if necessary – while their lower seeded opponent hosts games three, four, and six.

From there, things work pretty similarly to how they do in college basketball’s March Madness tournament. The winner of each first round series moves on to face a new opponent in the next round, with matchups determined by seeding.

The biggest difference between college basketball’s tournament and the NBA playoffs is that instead of having four rounds leading up to a championship game, there are only three in the NBA. That means that after the first and second rounds have been completed – which narrows things down to just four teams remaining in each conference – it’s time for the Conference Finals.

Like all other rounds before it, Conference Finals series are also best-of-seven affairs. However, unlike earlier rounds where home court advantage goes to higher seeds regardless of record, this time it goes strictly off record with whoever had a better regular season mark getting games one, two five and seven at home again if necessary. The Conference Finals winners then advance to square off against one another in the NBA Finals.

And that’s how it works!

How the Playoffs Work

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NBA regular season. The tournament bracket is made up of eight teams from each conference: the winners of each of the three divisions in each conference, and the two conference runners-up with the next-best regular-season records regardless of division.

The Regular Season

In order to make the playoffs, teams must first compete in the regular season. The regular season is an 82-game schedule that runs from October through April. During this time, teams play other teams in their conference both home and away. At the end of the regular season, the team with the best record in each conference is crowned the conference champion.

The playoff field is then set. The top six seeds in each conference (the division winners and the two teams with the next best records) automatically qualify for the playoffs. The remaining four spots are given to the next four teams with the best records, regardless of division or conference affiliation. These teams are known as wild card teams.

The playoff bracket is then set up so that the top seed in each conference plays the wild card team with the worst record and so on. The first round of playoffs is a best-of-seven series and all subsequent rounds are best-of-seven as well. The team that wins four games first advances to the next round.

The Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament annually held after the NBA’s regular season to determine the league’s champion. Eight teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. The four division winners in each conference (seeded 1–4 in their conference) occupy the first four spots, with the regular season second-place team seeds Fifth. The remaining two playoff positions from each conference go to the teams with the next best overall regular season records, regardless of divisional alignment. A total of 46 teams have qualified for at least a conference semifinal series; 33 of these teams have gone on to win at least one NBA championship.

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament annually held after the NBA’s regular season to determine the league’s champion. Eight teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. The four division winners in each conference (seeded 1–4 in their conference) occupy the first four spots, with the regular season second-place team seeds Fifth. The remaining two playoff positions from each conference go to the teams with the next best overall regular season records, regardless of divisional alignment. A total of 46 teams have qualified for at least a conference semifinal series; 33 of these teams have gone on to win at least one NBA championship.

In each round, whichever team holds an advantage in games won (e.g., 3–2) automatically wins that match-up; if games won are tied (e.g., 3–3), then home court advantage determines who will win that match-up: whomever has home court advantage will play at their home arena first and second and fifth if necessary, while their opponent will play at home only in games three and four and, if necessary, game six).

The first round of playoffs is known as “the opening round,” “the first round,” or “the preliminary rounds.” It is comprised of four match-ups in each Conference — two match-ups between third and sixth seed that were not teammates during any part of that regular season (or were but did not share either top two protected draft picks or agreed not to protect any players via sign-and trade deals), one match up between second and seventh seed that did not share either top pick or agree not to protect any players via sign-and trade deals, as well as one final match up between first and eighth seed that likewise did not share either top pick or agree not to protect any players via sign -and -trade deals: all 4 games are played over a period of five days, with games 1 , 2 , 5 , 7 on day 1 , day 2 , day 4 , day 6 .

The 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. The tournament bracket is made up of 16 teams, 8 from the Western Conference and 8 from the Eastern Conference. The conference champions play each other in the NBA Finals.

The First Round

The first round of the NBA playoffs is a best-of-seven series between the eight lower-seeded teams in each conference. The team with the better regular-season record has home-court advantage, meaning they host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary). The first round is played from April 13 to 30.

The Conference Semifinals

The Conference Semifinals round of the NBA playoffs is where things start to get really interesting. The eight remaining teams are now whittled down to four, as each conference’s respective bracket plays out.

This round is a best-of-seven series, meaning that the first team to win four games advances to the next round. If the score is tied at three games apiece, then a seventh and final game will be played to determine the winner.

Like in the Conference Quarterfinals, home-court advantage still goes to the higher-seeded team. That means that if the No. 1 seed in a conference is playing the No. 8 seed, then the No. 1 seed will have home-court advantage throughout the series.

The Conference Semifinals round of the NBA playoffs typically begins on the second weekend of April.

The Conference Finals

The Conference Finals are the last round of the NBA Playoffs before the NBA Finals. The two teams that advance to the Conference Finals come from the two conference semifinals series that were played. The team that has the best record in each conference faces the team that had the worst record in their conference in the first round of the playoffs. The other two teams in each conference play each other in the first round. The four teams that win their first-round playoff series advance to the second round, where they play each other. The two teams that win their second-round playoff series advance to the Conference 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 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 1947 when the basketball association 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 stint as Showdown ’83 before settling on NBA Finals in 1986. Since 1987, home court advantage in the NBA Finals has been determined by an annual playoff format prior to 1984, it was alternated between the East and West teams every year.

The current championship trophy was created by Tiffany & Co. and depicts a basketball over a shortened rendition of a hoop net. As of 2020, the Toronto Raptors are the defending NBA champions, winning their first title in franchise history during 2019 NBA Finals in six games against Golden State Warriors, who had appeared in five consecutive Finals since 2015.

Conclusion

When the regular season comes to an end, the top eight teams from each conference (Eastern and Western) qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament, meaning that once a team loses one game, they are out of the playoffs. The tournament starts with the First Round, where the 8th seed team in each conference plays the 1st seed team, the 7th seed team plays the 2nd seed team, and so on. The winners of those games then move on to the next round (the Conference Semifinals), and so on, until there is only one team left in each conference (the Conference Champions). Finally, the two Conference Champions face off against each other in the NBA Finals.