The NBA Playoffs are the end-of-season tournament to determine which team deserves the NBA title. They\u2019re battled out by the best teams across the last season, to crown the ultimate champion.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"
The playoffs are comprised of 16 teams in total \u2013 eight from each of the NBA\u2019s two conferences (East and West). The teams in each conference are ranked by their win-loss record from the regular season; the six teams with the most wins from each conference then progress immediately to the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The 7th-10th-placed teams in each conference then play for the remaining four spots in a \u2018play-in tournament\u2019.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"
Since 2021, the final two playoff spots in each conference have been decided by a play-in tournament. The tournament features the teams ranked 7th to 10th in each conference, who play each other in a format that is a combination of single-elimination and double-elimination.<\/p>\n
First, the seventh-placed team plays the eighth-placed team, with the winner handed the seventh seed in their conference.<\/p>\n
The ninth-placed team then plays the 10th-placed team, and the losing team is eliminated. The loser of the first game then plays the winner of the second, for the eighth seed.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"
In the NBA playoffs, there can be anywhere between 60 and 105 total games. This is because there are four rounds \u2013 the First Round, Conference Semi-finals, Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals \u2013 each of which are a best-of-seven, meaning a team needs 4 victories to win the round.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"
In each conference, the top six teams are seeded 1 to 6 based on their regular-season record. The team with the best record in each conference receives the no. 1 seed, while the team with the worst (among those six franchises) record receives the no. 6 seed, and so on.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"
But what if there\u2019s a tie? There are four tiebreakers to separate teams, applied in the following order:<\/p>\n
The season head-to-head record<\/strong> is used to determine which team receives the better seed.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n If the head-to-head is also level, however, the higher seed goes to the franchise that is a divisional champion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Should both or neither team be divisional champion, the third tie-breaker is the win-loss record against other teams<\/strong> in their division.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n And if that doesn\u2019t separate the teams, win-loss percentage against conference teams<\/strong> is the final tie-breaker!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n The seventh and eighth seeds in each conference are decided by the play-in tournament. As the season ramps up after the mid-season NBA All-Star<\/a> break, teams jostle for position, hoping to earn a spot in the postseason playoffs.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":" The playoffs use a best-of-seven elimination format. This means two teams play each other up to seven times, with the team that wins four games first progressing to the next round.<\/p>\n In the first round of the NBA playoffs, the 1st seed in each conference plays the 8th seed, while 2 plays 7, 3 plays 6, and 4 plays 5. The bracket will then progress like this:<\/p>\nHow do the NBA playoffs work?<\/h2>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"