Editing Playoffs (section)

===National Basketball Association===
{{main|NBA playoffs}} {{see also|NBA conference finals}}

The present organization known as the [[National Basketball Association]], then called the BAA (Basketball Association of America), had its inaugural season in 1946–47. Teams had always have different [[strength of schedule]] from each other; currently, a team plays a team outside its conference twice, a team within its conference but outside its division three or four times, and a team from its own division four times.

In the current system, eight clubs from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs, with separate playoff brackets for each conference. In the 2002–03 season, the first-round series were expanded from best-of-5 to best-of-7; all other series have always been best-of-7. In all series, home games alternate between the two teams in a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

The 2-3-2 finals format was adopted from the [[1985 NBA Finals|1985 Finals]] to [[2013 NBA Finals|2013]], copying the format that was then in effect in the National Hockey League. Prior to 1985, almost all finals were played in the 2-2-1-1-1 format (although the [[1971 NBA Finals|1971 Finals]] between Milwaukee and Baltimore were on an alternate-home basis, some 1950s finals used the 2-3-2 format, and the [[1975 NBA Finals|1975 Golden State-Washington]] and [[1978 NBA Finals|1978]] and [[1979 NBA Finals|1979]] Seattle-Washington Finals were on a 1-2-2-1-1 basis). Also, prior to the 1980s, [[Eastern Conference (NBA)|Eastern]] and [[Western Conference (NBA)|Western]] playoffs were on an alternate-home basis except for series when distance made the 2-2-1-1-1 format more practical. Since [[2014 NBA Finals|2014]], the [[NBA Finals]] restored the original format.

Teams are seeded according to their regular-season record. Through the 2014–15 season, the three division champions and best division runner-up received the top four seeds, with their ranking based on regular-season record. The remaining teams were seeded strictly by regular-season record. However, if the best division runner-up had a better record than other division champs, it could be seeded as high as second. Beginning in 2015–16, the NBA became the first major American league to eliminate automatic playoff berths for division champions; the top eight teams overall in each conference now qualify for the playoffs, regardless of divisional alignment.

Since the 2019–20 season, only the top six teams qualify directly to the playoffs. The remaining two teams in each conference are determined through what is officially considered a separate postseason tournament, consisting of the seventh through tenth-placed teams. Known as a [[NBA play-in tournament|play-in tournament]], it consists of three, one-game series:

* Seventh placed team '''vs.''' eighth placed team
* Ninth placed team '''vs.''' tenth placed team
* Loser of 7–8 game '''vs.''' winner of 9–10 game.

The winner of the 7–8 game advances to the playoffs as the 7th seed, while the loser faces the winner of the 9–10 game (the loser of it is eliminated from playoff contention). The winner of this third game advances to the playoffs as the 8th seed, while the loser is also eliminated from playoff contention. From there, the playoffs continue as normal.