While some NBA fans may not like the season’s end, there are the playoffs to anticipate. The top squads compete for the trophy, featuring teams from both conferences in a knock-out style contest. This continues until only one team remains.
On this page, we delve deep into how the NBA playoffs work, so that you can follow along with the action after the regular season has concluded!
The NBA Play-In Tournament
Before the actual playoffs begin, there is a play-in tournament. Teams that rank 7th to 10th in each conference battle it out. As for those ranks from 1st to 6th? They’ve already earned their spot in the playoffs.
Let’s simplify the play-in tournament process:
- The 7th and 8th place teams in each conference compete on home turf. The victors secure the playoffs’ 7th seed.
- The next game day is similar. The 9th place teams host the 10th. The winners then challenge the losers of the initial game (the 7th vs 8th match), with the losers bowing out of the tournament. Their season ends here.
- In the end, the team that loses the game between the 7th and 8th ranks squares off with the winners between the 9th and 10th spot. The triumphant team secures the last playoff spot, the 8th seed. Adversely, the losing team of this match is eliminated.
Remember, if multiple teams end up with an identical win percentage over a season, tiebreaker criteria comes into play. These will help rank each team before the playoffs commence. This criteria is as follows:
1. Head-to-head record
2. Division record (Team with the most wins in their respective division)
3. Conference record (Team with the most wins in their respective conference)
4. Conference winning percentage (Winning percentage against other playoff teams in the same conference)
5. Opposite conference winning percentage (Winning percentage against playoff teams in the opposite conference)
6. Point difference in all games played throughout the course of the season. This applies to all matches, including those against teams in the other conference.
What Is The Playoff Format?
Now, the first round in the playoffs will see the following matchups:
- 1st ranked teams vs 8th ranked teams
- 2nd ranked teams vs 7th ranked teams
- 3rd ranked teams vs 6th ranked teams
- 4th ranked teams vs 5th ranked teams
This is why each and every game matters throughout the course of an NBA season. Unlike in football, where most tournaments involve a draw to determine matches, the seeding of NBA teams will determine the difficulty of their matches in the playoffs.
Essentially, the 2-2-1-1-1 layout is used: one team begins with two home games, and the other team gets the next two. Then, if necessary, matches 5 and 7 are also on the first team’s home court, moving on to the opponent’s stadium for game 6.
The team that scores wins in 4 games out of an NBA playoff series is the victor. A minimum of four games are needed to declare a winner, with a cap at seven.
After we have completed the first line-up of series, this is what the following rounds will look like:
Conference Semi-Finals
- Winners of the 1st vs 8th and 4th vs 5th ranked matches will play each other.
- Winners of the 2nd vs 7th and 3rd vs 6th ranked matches will play each other.
Conference Finals
- Winners of the two previous matches will play each other.
NBA Finals
- The two winners of each conference will then face off to become the champions of the NBA season.
As most people would expect, losing any series in the playoffs will see the team be eliminated from contention.
How Many Teams Are In The NBA Playoffs?
In total, there are sixteen teams that start the NBA playoffs. Twelve of these come from the top 6 in both conferences, while the other four come from the play-in tournament (2 from each conference).
Due to this, both conferences will have equal representation and the only time in which teams from opposing conferences will face off is in the final.
When Do The NBA Playoffs Start?
Here’s the plan for the 2024 NBA playoffs:
- The 2023/2024 season concludes on the 14th of April, 2024.
- A play-in tournament starts on the 16th of April to the 19th of April. Two games happen every night to figure out the qualifiers.
- NBA playoffs begin next, on the 20th of April.
- May 6th and 7th are when we expect to see the conference semifinals. Of course, those could slide to the 4th and 5th depending on earlier results.
- Conference finals should start May 21st and 22nd. But, they could be bumped to the 19th and 20th if prior rounds wrap up early.
Now, the two teams that remain will play the final on the following dates:
- Match 1 – Thursday the 6th of June
- Match 2 – Sunday the 9th of June
- Match 3 – Wednesday the 12th of June
- Match 4 – Friday the 14th of June
- Match 5 – Monday the 17th of June
- Match 6 – Thursday the 20th of June
- Match 7 – Sunday the 23rd of June
Of course, as the final takes a best-of-7 format, matches 5, 6, and 7 may not be necessary. As usual, one team will host the initial two games, while the other team hosts the third and fourth matches.
Betting On The NBA Playoffs With BetVictor
Want to place a bet on the NBA playoffs? BetVictor is the place to be. We provide a vast selection of options for every NBA match, plus in-game bets that open as soon as the game tips off. You can follow each game from within the BetVictor basketball betting page too, with live progress and statistics being displayed above the various markets.
Also, don’t miss any of the action; check out our sports blog for complete coverage of the playoffs. Stay in the loop regarding everything NBA-related and check out our basketball betting predictions, with posts being published on a regular basis!
