The NBA playoffs are the end-of-season tournament that determines which team will win the NBA championship. The top six teams in each conference, based on winning percentage, automatically advance to the playoffs. The seventh through tenth-ranked teams compete in an NBA play-in tournament to vie for the remaining two spots.
LeBron James: Analyzing His Impact on the NBA Playoffs Over the Years
The impact of LeBron James is so far-reaching that he could never have fully intended it when he chose to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and head to Miami in 2010. But what he did change, and forever, was the currency in which players were measured. Money and points were still important, but championships became paramount.
James has won eight straight Finals appearances, joining a handful of Boston Celtics from the 1950s and 1960s in doing so. He has also carried some of the most talented rosters in the history of the league – such as his first tour of duty with the Heat, when he led that team to three straight titles – and pulled off miracle comebacks in multiple postseason series.
He has now surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time NBA scoring lead and is poised to become the first player in history to amass 40,652 regular season points. He has topped 30 points in a game 10 times this year and his teams have won a staggering 93 percent of games when he is at his peak.
The Finals
The NBA playoffs are an annual best-of-seven series elimination tournament to determine the league champion. Six teams from each conference automatically advance to the playoffs based on their regular season winning percentage. Teams finishing seventh through tenth compete in the NBA play-in tournament for the last two playoff seeds.
LeBron James has led Cleveland to four consecutive Finals appearances, but the team lost back-to-back championships to Golden State. James then left for Los Angeles, and the Cavs haven’t made a return trip to the Finals since.
Tonight, the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament wraps up with a pair of win-or-go-home elimination games. The winner gets the eighth seed, while the loser sees their season end. The first game is Bulls-Heat (7 ET, ESPN), followed by Kings-Pelicans (9:30 ET, TNT). You can catch every moment of the action on fubo (try for free). Follow along in real-time here. The winners of each conference will then face one another in the NBA Finals to determine the championship series champion.
NBA Playoffs: The Eastern Conference Finals
With Boston’s 113-98 win over the Cavaliers in Game 5, the Celtics punched their ticket to the Conference Finals for the third straight year. They’ll now face the winner of the Knicks-Indiana Pacers series.
It’s an all-star-laden matchup that could prove to be a real arm wrestle. Boston’s stud trio of Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Jared Tatum has to be the most complete in the league.
Miami’s roster features a mix of experienced veterans and talented younger players. And while the Heat aren’t as good as they once were, they’ve been grinding out series against top-seeded teams this NBA playoffs season.
And then there’s Erik Spoelstra, who might be the best coach in the league and knows exactly how to get the most out of his team’s roster. His ability to spot Boston’s weird defense or new offensive wrinkles and quickly respond will play a key role in this series.
NBA Playoffs: The Western Conference Finals
With LeBron James, the defending champion Golden State Warriors are the clear favorite to advance to the conference finals. But the rest of the field has plenty of talent as well. The second round will feature a few Game 7s, including the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks.
The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the NBA playoffs based on their regular-season record. The highest-seeded team gets home court advantage in the first round and, if necessary, in the conference finals. Teams with the same record are separated by a series of criteria, including head-to-head wins and point differential.
The 2023 Miami Heat and the Minnesota Timberwolves are the only eighth-seeded teams to win NBA playoffs, but it’s not out of the question that another lower-seeded team could reach the Finals this season. Veteran referees Scott Foster and Marc Davis both have a chance to reach milestones with their playoff assignments this spring.
