How Many Games Does an NBA Team Play?
The answer may surprise you. The NBA plays 82 games in a regular season, but that’s not all.
82 Regular Season Games
In an NBA regular season, each team plays 82 games. These games are played over a span of about six months, from October to April. The schedule is released in August, and usually has each team playing four games against division rivals, three games against teams in the other conference’s division that they are paired with (that division’s rivals), and two games against the remaining ten conference teams.
Pre-Season Games
An NBA team plays 82 games in the regular season, 41 of them at home and 41 on the road. In addition, each team plays at least one pre-season game but no more than eight.
Post-Season Games
In addition to the 82 regular season games, teams can play a maximum of 28 post-season games. The number of post-season games a team plays depends on how far the team advances in the playoffs.
The first round of the playoffs, or the Conference Semifinals, is a best-of-seven series. The Conference Finals is also a best-of-seven series. The NBA Finals is a best-of-seven series with the first team to win four games declared the champion.
If a team has home court advantage in any round of the playoffs, they will have an extra game at home, giving them the potential to play up to five more games than their opponents.
