How Many Games Are in the NBA Playoffs?
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How Many Games Are in the NBA Playoffs?
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.
How the NBA Playoffs Work
The NBA Playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament held annually to crown the NBA Finals champion. The tournament consists of four rounds: the first two rounds are best-of-seven series played between the eight lowest-seeded teams in the conference and the conference’s four division winners, and the last two rounds are best-of-seven series played between the conference’s top two seeds and the two winners of the first two rounds.
The regular season
The National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season is when teams play 82 games in order to determine seeding for the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season ends. The NBA Finals is the championship series of the playoffs.
In order to make the playoffs, a team must have one of the top eight records in their conference. The conference seeds are then ranked based on record, with the team having the best record being given the first seed and so on. In the first round of the playoffs, also known as the conference quarterfinals,
the matchups are as follows:
-The first seed plays the eighth seed
-The second seed plays the seventh seed
-The third seed plays the sixth seed
-The fourth seed plays the fifth seed
The winners of each series advance to the next round, called the conference semifinals, and play each other. The winners of those series advance to the conference finals. Finally, the two teams remaining in each conference compete against each other in order to win their respective conference and advance to
the NBA Finals.
The playoff seeding
In the NBA, the team with the best record in each conference is seeded first overall. The team with the second-best record is seeded second and so on. These divisional rankings are used to fill out the rest of the bracket in each conference. However, if two teams tie in records, a variety of tiebreakers are used to determine which team receives a higher seed.
Once the playoff field is set, a four-round tournament commences. In each round, the lower-seeded team is matched up against the higher-seeded team. For example, if the second seed in each conference loses in the first round, they will play each other in the second round. The same goes if the third and fourth seeds lose in the first round—they will play each other in the second round as well.
The first two rounds of the playoffs are played entirely within each conference—there is no interconference play until the Conference Finals. The first round of playoffs is a best-of-seven series while all other rounds are best-of-sevens.
The playoff format
In the NBA, the playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams that have qualified. Eight teams from each conference (Western and Eastern) make the playoffs. The four division winners in each conference are seeded one through four based on their regular season record, with the remaining four teams seeded fifth through eighth.
The first round of the playoffs, or the conference quarterfinals, consists of the fourth seed playing the fifth seed, the third seed playing the sixth seed, and so on. In the second round, or the conference semifinals, the two remaining division winners from each conference are matched up regardless of seeding, as are the two remaining non-division-winners from each conference. The winners of each conference semifinal advance to their respective conference finals.
The NBA Finals pit the Eastern Conference champion against the Western Conference champion in a best-of-seven series to determine the NBA champion.
How Many Games Are in the NBA Playoffs?
The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven series. The first team to win four games advances to the next round. The losing team is eliminated from the playoffs.
The first round
The first round of the NBA Playoffs is a best-of-seven series. That means that the team with the better regular season record will need to win four games before the other team can win three games.
The conference semifinals
The conference semifinals are a best-of-seven series. The team that has the better regular-season record will have home-court advantage in the conference semifinals. If both teams have the same regular-season record, then the team with the better head-to-head record will have home-court advantage.
The conference finals
In the conference finals, each team plays an additional four games, for a total of seven. The first team to win four games in the best-of-seven series advances to the NBA Finals.
The NBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the annual 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.
