NBA Playoffs

NBA Playoffs Explained

The NBA playoffs determine the champion of the National Basketball Association. After the regular season, the action turns to this annual best-of-seven contest. But it’s not just the regular season that leads to the playoffs. There’s also the NBA play-in tournament to consider. Teams that dominate during the regular season don’t need to worry too much.

The top six teams from both Eastern and Western Conferences, ranked by their win percentages, earn their direct tickets to the playoffs. However, teams from seventh to tenth have an extra hurdle: the NBA play-in tournament.

The Play-in Tournament

While this tournament is technically separate from the playoffs, its significance cannot be denied. Here’s how it works: The seventh and eighth teams face off. The winner locks in the seventh seed. Meanwhile, the ninth and tenth teams are up against each other. The loser is out, while the winner takes on the loser from the first match. The victor of this game secures the eighth seed.

Brackets and Game Format

Both the Eastern and Western Conferences follow a fixed bracket structure. Each round of the NBA Playoffs is a best-of-seven series, meaning the first team to win four games advances to the next round.

The series format is 2–2–1–1–1:

The team with the better regular-season record (home-court advantage) hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7.

Their opponent hosts Games 3, 4, and 6.

This format has been the standard since 2014. The bracket remains fixed throughout the postseason — no reseeding occurs between rounds.

How Winners Are Determined

Each series continues until one team wins four games. The team that first reaches four victories advances; the losing team is eliminated. Game scores reset between games — there’s no cumulative scoring or point total carried forward.