How Many Teams Are In The NBA Playoffs?

The NBA playoffs are upon us! How many teams are in the running this year?

How the NBA Playoffs Work

The NBA playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The playoffs begin in late April, after the conclusion of the NBA regular season.

The Regular Season

The regular season is when each team plays 82 games. These games are used to determine seedings for the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held at the end of the regular season. The tournament consists of four rounds: the first three are best-of-seven series, and the Finals are a best-of-seven series.

The NBA Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs are a tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the champion of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The playoffs began in 1947, and were initially only open to the winners of each division. As the league has expanded, so too have the playoffs, and currently a total of 16 teams make it to the postseason (eight from each conference).

The format of the playoffs has also changed over time. The current system, which has been in place since 1984, is a best-of-seven series in which the team with the better record is given home-court advantage (meaning they host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7). Before 1984, home-court advantage was decided by a coin flip; prior to 1950, there were no playoffs at all and the team with the best regular season record was simply crowned champion.

The NBA Playoffs are widely considered to be one of the most exciting tournaments in all of sports, and they always generate huge amounts of interest both from casual fans and hardcore hoopheads alike. So if you’re curious about how they work or how many teams make it in, read on for a complete guide to the NBA Playoffs.

How Many Teams Make the Playoffs?

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 for that season. The playoffs were first instituted in 1947, following the merger of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL).

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.

The Conference Finals

In the Conference Finals, the remaining two teams from each conference play each other. The three division champions in each conference automatically earn playoff berths, while the final five spots are given to the teams with the next-best records in their respective conferences, regardless of division. These “wild card” teams can come from either division in their conference. The Conference Finals are played in a best-of-seven series.

The Semifinals

The Semifinals are the best-of-7 series to determine the Western and Eastern Conference Champions. The two teams that lose in the Semifinals compete in the Third Place Game.

The First Round

The First Round of the playoffs is a best-of-seven series. The team that has the better regular-season record earns home-court advantage, meaning they host Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary). The first round of the playoffs began on April 15 and ended on April 28.