If you’re a basketball fan, then you’re probably familiar with the NBA finals. In fact, you’ve probably seen countless games. But for those who are new to watching and experiencing professional basketball, stay and read our article, and we’ll take you through what you need to know.
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With that out of the way, here’s an overview of what the NBA finals stand for and how they actually work.
Overview: What Are The NBA Finals?
The NBA finals showcase the best basketball players in the world, and it’s always an exciting event for the fans and the players themselves. For those not acquainted, here’s a re-run:
- They are a series of annual basketball games for championship competitors. NBA stands for National Basketball Association, and they organize these events in order to find the league champion.
- The playing team that succeeds in winning snatches the ‘Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. It’s a pretty big deal in basketball.
The finals are undoubtedly the most anticipated part of the whole season for fans. So let’s get into how it actually works.
How The NBA Finals Actually Work
The whole system and mechanics that operate playing seasons and the NBA finals are pretty straightforward, but for the sake of knowing, we will enlighten you on some crucial points.
Since the Finals are the last stage of the season, it’s the most important. The format of the Finals is the same format used in playoffs. This means the best-of-seven format. Essentially, the team who wins four matches wins the title.
From around 2018, the format of the NBA series is 2-2-1-1-1 with the ‘best-of-seven’ elimination format. The 7-game series includes two home games, two road games, one away game, then one home game. The final game will be a home game.
The Trophy
As we’ve seen, the trophy is named after ‘Larry O’ Brien.’ He was a politician who made a career switch to sports in 1975. He then became the 3rd commissioner of the NBA for almost a decade.
O’Brien helped NBA games become more popular and become more accessible on TV. His successor ‘David Stern’ also helped a huge lot in positively impacting the NBA community. He helped the NBA’s legacy by letting it blossom as a global brand.
The NBA Playoffs
Before the NBA finals, there are the playoffs. This part of the season has us watching professional teams battling in three rounds. These rounds represent the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and, lastly, the ‘Conference’ finals. The teams who win in the last round get to compete in the ultimate level of the NBA finals.
Teams In The NBA Playoffs
16 teams battle it out during the playoffs. These 16 teams comprise the best eight teams in the East and West conferences. The 16 teams in the playoffs are paired based on their final rank in the Regular Season (the season before the playoffs). The playoffs use a ‘best of seven’ format to see who will be eliminated.
East And West Conferences
In the NBA, there are two conferences named the East and West. There are 15 teams in each of them. In each conference, three divisions exist, and a division is made up of five teams.
How Seeding Works
The top teams are the top seeds from the Eastern and Western conferences. They are ranked 1 to 6. In each and every round, the team with more seeds gets a ‘home-court’ advantage. The 7th and 8th seed is decided via the play-in tournament.
The Play-in Tournament
The last teams to fill up the final two spots in the playoffs need to be decided via a play-in tournament. This started in 2021. Teams ranked 7th to 10th in the East and West conferences will battle it out in a format that is both single and double elimination. Then it goes like this:
- First off, 7th (position) team vs. 8th. The winner gets the 7th seed.
- Secondly, 9th vs. 10th. Losers will be eliminated.
- Thirdly, the loser of the first game will play the winner of the second game. The winner will receive the 8th seed.
Home Court Advantage
We’ve stated this term a few times already but for those who don’t know what it means, then let’s clear the air. The ‘Home Court Advantage’ refers to the advantages the ‘home’ team has over the ‘away’ team.
So, what does this mean for the ‘home’ team? Essentially, those with the home-court advantage are obliged to host the first two games of the match. The third and fourth games will be played at the ‘away’ team’s arena. 5th and 6th games will be battled out at home and away. Lastly, the final match will be played at the ‘home’ team’s arena.
This is significant because most teams and players have a natural boost of confidence when they can play in their own arena.
Final Thoughts
There might be a lot of rules, terms, and things that a new fan has to get acquainted with when they start watching NBA games, and it might feel confusing at first, but luckily you’ll adapt to it over time and will perfectly grasp the concepts and gameplays when you’ve witnessed enough games.
No matter which team you’re a fan of or are starting to be a fan of, it’s good to understand the mechanics behind basketball to make sense of the gameplay. We hope this article will help as your definitive guide when it comes to the games.
