How many games are in the NBA playoffs? Explaining the history of best-of-seven series

The NBA Playoffs represent one of the most exciting times of the year in the sports world.

All of the best NBA teams converge for an exciting showdown that lasts from late April to June. But in the end, only one team emerges victorious.

The format of the playoffs has undergone its fair share of changes over the years. The current format features 20 teams, 10 per conference. The No. 7, 8, 9, and 10 teams each have to play a one-game playoff to determine who advances into the round of 16.

Whichever team wins the game between seeds No. 7 and 8 is granted the seventh seed, while the loser of that game competes against the winner of the 9-10 matchup to determine seed No. 8.

In this piece, we will look back at the history of the NBA Playoffs and how the format has changed over the years.

NBA playoff best-of-seven format history

Every year since 1946-47, the NBA Playoffs have consisted of a best-of-seven format, at least in the NBA Finals. The league featured 11 teams at the time with six reaching the playoffs. The league was separated by divisions rather than conferences at the time.

Chicago and Washington faced off in a best-of-seven Divisional semifinal round while New York, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Philadelphia faced off in a best-of-three series to determine who would advance to the next round.

In 1949, the playoffs were expanded to eight teams. The format for the first two rounds remained best-of-three while the finals remained best-of-seven. A year later, the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, but it was cut back down to six teams in 1954.

The Division Finals round became a best-of-five series in 1955 and later was switched to the best-of-seven format in 1958. By 1968, the entire NBA Playoffs were comprised of best-of-seven series.

Things changed in 1975 when the playoffs were expanded to 10 teams. The first round included the fourth and fifth seeds from each conference playing each other in a best-of-three series while the top three seeds were guaranteed a bye.

The 1984 season saw the inception of the 16-team format, which stood until the 2019-20 season. The first round was expanded to a best-of-five series while the rest of the matchups were best-of-seven. The reason for the expansion was to prevent upsets, but this backfired when the New Jersey Nets, who won 45 regular season, knocked out the heavily favored Philadelphia 76ers in five games. More changes occurred in 2003 when the first round was expanded to best-of-seven.

That is where things stand today. The only difference now is the brief play-in tournament. But once those matchups are over, it is back to 16 teams, with each series consisting of a best-of-seven format.

These days, the playoffs can consist of up to 105 total games. For this to happen, all series would have to go the full length of seven games. It can also be as few as 60 games should all series result in four-game sweeps.

There have been some notable upsets in the best-of-seven series format. Last season, the Miami Heat were the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and knocked out the Milwaukee Bucks to advance to the Conference Semifinals. Miami then eliminated the No. 5 seed, the New York Knicks and the No. 2 seed, the Boston Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Denver Nuggets.

In 2012, the Chicago Bulls had the best record in the NBA and squared off against the No. 8 seed 76ers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Philadelphia won the series in six games after Derrick Rose was injured in Game 1.

So, there you have it. This is the history of the best-of-seven format. Obviously, a lot has changed over the years, leading to what we have now.