How Many Teams Make the NBA Playoffs?

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Jonas Valančiūnas of the Toronto Raptors and Marcin Gortat of the Washington Wizards contend for a jump ball during a 2018 game.
(Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons)
Sameer Kumar @S_Kumar2 Jan 19, 2025, 7:19 PM
  • Sixteen teams make the playoffs in the NBA.
  • The NBA playoffs work by having four best-of-seven rounds per year.
  • There are a minimum of 60 playoff games each year.

The NBA playoffs are a joyous time of year when many teams with short championship basketball betting odds compete against one another to try and bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

It’s an incredible opportunity for teams with the best NBA championship odds to build a legacy that lasts generations and for me to bet online and put my hoops knowledge to the test.

With that in mind, how many teams make the NBA playoffs? Let’s find out.

How Many Teams Make the Playoffs in the NBA?

Sixteen teams make the playoffs in the NBA, eight in the Eastern Conference and eight in the Western Conference.

How Do the NBA Playoffs Work?

The NBA playoffs work by having four best-of-seven rounds per year.

The six best regular-season teams by record earn the first six seeds in each conference. The winners of the SoFi Play-In Tournament take up the last two playoff spots.

The seventh- and eighth-place teams in each conference compete for the No. 7 seed. Meanwhile, the ninth- and 10th-place teams face off, with the winner taking on the loser of the 7/8 matchup to secure the final playoff spot for that conference.

The top seed takes on the eighth, the second seed faces the seventh, the third seed matches up with the sixth, and the fourth seed goes head-to-head with the fifth.

In the conference semifinals, the winner of the 1/8 matchup plays the winner of the 4/5 series, while the victor of the 2/7 matchup meets the winner of the 3/6 series.

The winners of those matchups advance to the conference finals, where they battle for a chance to reach the NBA Finals. The champions from each conference then square off to decide the league’s ultimate winner.

How Many Games Are in the NBA Playoffs?

The number of games in the NBA playoffs varies by year.

There are a minimum of 60 playoff games each year, though that would require every single series to end in a sweep, which is highly unlikely, to put it mildly.

There are a maximum of 105 postseason games each season, but that would mean each series went seven games. That’s another improbable scenario.

There were a total of 82 playoff games played during the 2023-24 season.

An average of 84 playoff games have been played in the NBA since 2014.

About the Author

Sameer Kumar

Read More @S_Kumar2

Sameer Kumar is an NBA writer for BetMGM who specializes in providing analysis on player performance and telling stories beyond the numbers. He graduated from SUNY Oswego with a B.A. in Broadcasting & Mass Communication.

Sameer Kumar is an NBA writer for BetMGM who specializes in providing analysis on player performance and telling stories beyond the numbers. He graduated from SUNY Oswego with a B.A. in Broadcasting & Mass Communication.