Intro: With the NBA (National Basketball Association) playoffs getting underway this weekend, I thought it would be helpful to explain the format all the way from the initial play-in round to the finals.
Background: The NBA is divided into two 15-team conferences: the Eastern Conference, with teams like the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks; and the Western Conference, home to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder. Sixteen of the teams make the playoffs, with eight teams from the East and eight from the West. The only time a team from the East plays a team from the West is in the final round. First, the teams from each conference must play amongst themselves in a bracket-style system until one team from each region reigns supreme. The bracket is organized by seeding, which is determined by regular season record; the team with the most wins over the course of the season is the one seed, second-most wins is the two seed, and so on.
The Play-In: Before the playoffs can get underway, there is a precursor round called the play-in. During the play-in round (which just occurred this past week) the East’s seven and eight seed play against each other, and the nine and 10 seed play. The winners of the seven vs. eight seed game move on to play the two seed in the playoffs. The loser of the seven vs. eight game plays the winner of the nine vs. 10 game, and the victor of that game plays the one seed. This works the exact same way within the Western Conference.
The Playoffs Themselves: Each series in the NBA Playoffs is a best-of-seven contest, meaning the winner is the first to four wins. The one vs. eight seed game and the two vs. seven seed game have already been explained above. The format for the remaining teams follows along the same structure: the three plays the six, and the four plays the five. This series is formatted so that the higher seed hosts games one, two, and, if necessary, five and seven, while the lower seed is the home team for games three, four, and, if required, six. After all the matchups conclude, then the one/eight winner plays the four/five winner, and the two/seven winner plays the three/six winner. This process repeats until there is one team standing from each conference. Then the victorious team from the West plays the Eastern champion to determine who holds the Finals trophy at the end of the year.
