<Tr> <Th> TV partner (s) </Th> <Td> ESPN / ABC TNT NBA TV </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Official website </Th> <Td> National Basketball Association </Td> </Tr> <P> The National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs are a best - of - seven elimination tournament among 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference (called divisions, pre-1970), ultimately deciding the league's season champion in the NBA Finals . </P> <P> In September 2015, the NBA announced changes to the formula used to determine the format of the 2016 NBA Playoffs . The top eight teams in each conference (East and West), ranked in order by win - loss records, qualify for the playoffs . The tie - break criteria for playoff seeding and home - court advantage have also changed; head - to - head results between the tied teams is the first tie - breaker, and whether a team won its division championship is the second tie - breaker . </P>

How many teams make the playoffs in the nba