How many teams make the NBA playoffs?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the major professional sports leagues in North America. Founded in 1946, the NBA consists of 30 teams across the United States and Canada. Each team plays 82 regular season games from October through April. At the end of the regular season, top teams from each conference advance to the NBA playoffs to compete for the championship.

The NBA playoffs started in 1947, just one year after the league was founded. Over the years, the playoff structure has evolved. There have been changes to the number of qualifying teams, the playoff bracket format, and more recently the addition of the play-in tournament. The latest innovation is the NBA In-Season Tournament, debuting in 2023/2024, which will also impact playoff seeding.

With these changes, the playoff picture has become more complex. The number of teams and the seeding process is no longer as straightforward as it once was. Even loyal NBA fans find themselves needing a refresher on how everything works heading into the 2023/2024 postseason. The playoff structure and seeding process has become nuanced, but ultimately it still comes down to the best teams battling it out for the iconic Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

Number of Teams in the NBA playoffs

16 teams take part in the NBA playoffs each season — eight each from the Eastern and Western Conference.

During the regular season stretching from October to April, teams in each conference are ranked by their overall win-loss record. The top six teams from each conference automatically qualify for the NBA playoffs.

The remaining four playoff spots are finalized through a play-in tournament. It is a tournament held for the teams who finished seventh to 10th in the regular season.

Here is how the play-in tournament works:

At the end of the regular season, the No. 7 seed plays the No. 8 seed, while the No. 9 seed plays the No. 10 seed in each conference. The winner of the 7 vs 8 game earns the No. 7 playoff seed for that conference. The loser of that game gets another chance to make the playoffs.

The loser of the 7 vs 8 game will then play the winner of the 9 vs 10 game. Whichever team wins that matchup claims the No. 8 and final seed for their conference.

Essentially, the teams that finished 9th and 10th during the regular season need to win two games in a row to move up to the 8th seed and qualify for the playoffs. The teams in seventh and eighth position just need to win one game to secure their spot.

So while 16 teams total make the playoffs, the last four spots are up for grabs through the new play-in tournament system.