Ever wondered how the NBA crowns its champion? The journey from the grueling 82-game regular season to the iconic Larry O'Brien Trophy is a thrilling, multi-stage tournament known as the NBA Playoffs. It's where legends are made and every possession counts.

The path to the title begins with 16 teams qualifying from the league's 30. The top six teams from each conference—the Eastern and Western—earn an automatic playoff berth based on their regular-season win totals. The drama starts early for teams finishing 7th through 10th, as they battle in a high-stakes "play-in tournament" for the final two playoff spots in each conference.

Once the field is set, the real tournament begins. Teams are seeded based on their final conference standing, setting the stage for a classic bracket. The playoffs consist of four grueling rounds, each a best-of-seven series. This means the first team to win four games advances, with series potentially going the full, nerve-wracking distance to a Game 7.

Home-court advantage is a crucial reward for a strong regular season. In each series, the team with the better record hosts Games 1, 2, 5, and 7, where the energy of their home crowd can be a decisive factor.

The first round pits the top seed against the bottom seed in each conference, with the other matchups following suit. Winners then advance to the Conference Semifinals, followed by the Conference Finals. The last team standing in the East then battles the champion of the West in the NBA Finals for the ultimate prize.

It's a marathon of skill and endurance, with the 2026 Finals, for example, scheduled to tip off on June 3rd, with a potential Game 7 set for June 19th. Every dribble, every defensive stop, and every clutch shot from the opening tip of the playoffs writes a new chapter in basketball history.