Playoff

A playoff in sports (North American professional sports in particular) is a game or series of games played after the regular season is over with the goal of determining a league champion. The championship of a league may be determined by as few as a single playoff between two teams, or by an elimination tournament involving several teams.

Playoffs in the National Basketball Association

The present organization known as the National Basketball Association, then called the BAA (Basketball Association of America), had its inaugural season in 1946-1947.

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In the current system, eight clubs from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs, with separate playoff brackets for each conference. In the 2003-04 season, the first-round series were expanded from best-of-5 to best-of-7; all other series have always been best-of-7. In all series, home games alternate between the two teams in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, except for the NBA Finals, in which the format is 2-3-2.

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Teams are seeded according to their regular-season record. The three division champions receive the top three seeds, with their ranking based on regular-season record. The remaining teams are seeded strictly by regular-season record.

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One quirk in the NBA system is that division champions are not guaranteed home-court advantage at any time in the playoffs, as home-court advantage is decided strictly on regular-season record, without regard to seeding.

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Please see NBA Playoffs and 2005 NBA Playoffs for more information and the current NBA postseason.

Related Topics:
NBA Playoffs - 2005 NBA Playoffs - NBA

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