
Only 16 teams make the traditional NBA Playoffs. How many teams will make the NBA Playoffs?
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What is the format of the NBA Playoffs?Įach series in the NBA is a best-of-seven, where the team that has the higher seed (or a better regular season winning percentage in the NBA Finals) hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. If a team loses in the Play-In Tournament, their season is over. What happens to the teams that lose the Play-In Tournament? The Play-In Tournament is structured so that the winner of the Seven-Eight game gets the seventh seed, and the winner of the final sudden elimination game receives the eighth seed. NBA Playoffs FAQs Are teams reseeded after the Play-In Tournament? The team that loses the Nine-Ten Game is eliminated. Similarly, the ninth seed hosts the tenth seed, and the winner of that game squares off against the team that loses the Seven-Eight Game to receive the eighth seed in the standard playoffs. The seventh seed would host the eighth seed in the same conference, and the winner of that game is awarded the seventh seed. During the 2020 season, the league announced that there would be a Play-In Tournament between the teams in each conference who have the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth best winning percentages. What has changed in recent years is how teams win the right to the seventh and eighth seed. How does the NBA Play-In Tournament Work? The home team in the NBA Finals is determined by who has the better regular season record between the two teams. Each series is a best-of-seven format, played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format where the home team hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 (if the NBA Finals goes to seven games). The higher seeded teams in each round receive home court advantage through to the NBA Finals. Once the teams have completed the Play-In Tournament, the traditional playoff format commences.

Four teams square off to claim the final two spots in the traditional playoffs. The Play-In Tournament serves to increase the number of teams that remain in the playoff hunt throughout the regular season.

In 2022, the NBA announced it would adopt the Play-In Tournament on a full-time basis. The remaining seeds in each conference are assigned based on overall regular season record, from the fourth seed all the way to the sixth spot. Each division has five teams, and each division winner claims a Top 3 seed (or ranking) in their conference. In the West, they are the Pacific, Northwest and Southwest. In the East, the three divisions are the Atlantic, Central and Southeast. Beyond a few geographical anomalies and a handful of franchises that have relocated, teams that are West of the Mississippi River play in the Western Conference and those East play in the Eastern Conference.Įach conference is split into three divisions. Loading Events How Do the NBA Playoffs Work?Īs it is currently structured, the NBA is separated into two conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.
