The NBA playoffs consist of four main rounds: the First Round, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals. Each round is played as a best-of-seven series, meaning a team must win four games to advance to the next round
. Here is a summary of the playoff structure:
- Number of rounds: 4
- First Round
- Conference Semifinals
- Conference Finals
- NBA Finals
- Games per series: Best-of-seven (up to 7 games, first to 4 wins)
- Teams per conference: 8 teams qualify for the playoffs after the Play-In Tournament determines the final seeds 7 and 8
The Play-In Tournament precedes the playoffs but is not considered part of the official playoff rounds
. In total, if every series went to the maximum games, there could be up to 28 games per conference (7 games × 4 rounds), and 56 games across both conferences before the NBA Finals. The Finals themselves can add up to 7 more games. The playoff series use a 2–2–1–1–1 home-court format, where the higher- seeded team hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7, and the lower-seeded team hosts games 3, 4, and 6 if those games are necessary
. In summary, the NBA playoffs feature four rounds of best-of-seven series, with each series potentially lasting up to 7 games, culminating in the NBA Finals to determine the league champion.
