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| The NBA has held it's annual playoffs every year since it's inception as the BAA in 1946. The first playoffs, which were held in 1947, only 6 teams made the post season. The bracket was different than most years and in most leagues. The brackets had the top team from the east and the west division getting byes in the first round, only to play each other in the second round. The 2 seeds and the 3 seeds also played each other in the first round. Both eastern division teams advanced to the second round and faced off. In the first BAA final the Philadelphia Warriors would defeat the Chicago Stags 4 games to 1 to win the leagues first title. Following the merger with the NBL the playoff format expanded to a more common bracket where the top team from the east division would face the lowest seeded team from the east division and the same would happen in the west and so on until the east champion met the west champion in the NBA finals. |
The 1950s saw a lot of NBA teams drop out and fold and so in 1955 the playoffs dropped back to having only 6 teams with the best team from each conference getting a bye.
The league went back to having 8 teams in 1968 and would expand to 10 teams in 1975 and to 12 teams in 1975.
The league expanded to the 16 team tournament style bracket we see today in 1983. From 1983 until 2003 the first round of the playoffs were the best of 5. Since 2003 the playoffs have been best of 7.
| Years | # Playoff Teams | # of games in first round | # of games in 2nd round | # of games in Conf Finals | # of games in NBA finals |
| 1947-49 | 6 | NA | 3 | 3 or 7 | 7 |
| 1949-55 | 8 | NA | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 1955-60 | 6 | NA | 3 | 5 Until 1957 | 7 |
| 1961-66 | 6 | NA | 5 | 7 After 1958 | 7 |
| 1967 | 8 | NA | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| 1966-75 | 8 | NA | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 1975-76 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 1977-83 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 1983-03 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 2003- | 16 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
