NBA Playoffs Format, Standings and First Round Preview

The 2022 NBA playoffs are right around the corner and we hope to see some exciting games and matchups until the last team remains standing to take the NBA title.

Of course, that is some ways away from now and, as always, the NBA playoffs start with the first round. So, let’s take a closer look at the format of the first round and the entire playoffs and how many games we can expect to see in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

NBA Playoffs – Which Teams Made It?

The last few gamedays of the regular NBA season have been very interesting and we didn’t know the final seeding until the very last day of the season.

But before we take a closer look at the teams that made the NBA playoffs and the play-in tournament, let’s take a closer look at the format of the NBA playoffs.

NBA Playoffs – Format and Standings

The NBA playoffs format for the 2021-2022 NBA season remain the same as they were for the last season and many season before that. Sixteen teams in total will participate in the NBA playoffs – the first six seeds in each conference, plus four winners of the NBA play-in tournament (two in each conference).

The playoffs will start with the first round, with the first seed playing the eighth seed in each conference, the second seed playing the seventh seed, and so on.

Many people wonder whether the NBA playoffs are played in the best of 5 or 7 format, which is a legitimate question since we’ve seen different formats throughout the NBA history. However, all rounds in the NBA playoffs are played in the best of 7 format, which means that the team that wins four games wins the series.

After the first round, we will see conference semi-finals, conference finals, and, finally, the NBA finals. The winner of the NBA finals becomes the new NBA champion.

What Is the NBA Play-In Tournament?

The NBA play-in tournament was introduced in the 2020-2021 NBA season and it is a mini-tournament with a single-game elimination format in which teams seeded from the 7th to the 10th seed compete for the last two playoff spots in each conference.

The 7th seed hosts the 8th seed first and the winner becomes the 7th seed for the playoffs. Then, the 9th seed hosts the 10th seed and the winner plays against the loser of the first game between the 7th and 8th seed, while the loser is eliminated. Ultimately, the winner of the last game becomes the 8th seed in the NBA playoffs.

NBA Play-In Eastern Conference

No. 8 Cleveland Cavaliers @ No. 7 Brooklyn Nets

No.10 Charlotte Hornets @ No. 9 Atlanta Hawks

NBA Play-In Western Conference

No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers @ No. 7 Minnesota Timberwolves

No.10 San Antonio Spurs @ No. 9 New Orleans Hornets

NBA Playoffs 2022 – First Round Matchups

Now is the time to take a look at the first round of the NBA playoffs and which teams made it:

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Miami Heat vs No. 8 (Nets/Cavaliers/Hawks/Hornets)

No.2 Boston Celtics vs No. 7 (Nets/Cavaliers)

No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks vs No.6 Chicago Bulls

No. 4 Philadelphia 76ers vs No 5 Toronto Raptors

Western Conference

No. 1 Phoenix Suns vs No. 8 (Timberwolves, Clippers, Pelicans, Spurs)

No. 2 Memphis Grizzlies vs No. 7 (Timberwolves, Clippers)

No. 3 Golden State Warriors vs No. 6 Denver Nuggets

No. 4 Dallas Mavericks vs No. 5 Utah Jazz

 

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