I still remember the first time I watched an NBA playoff game with my grandfather back in 2016. We were sitting in his cozy living room in Manila, the humid evening air carrying the distant sounds of jeepneys and street vendors. He had this old television set that took forever to warm up, but when it finally did, we found ourselves transported to Oracle Arena where the Golden State Warriors were facing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. "This is different from the regular season," he told me, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Every possession matters here. It's like watching a different sport altogether." That night, as Klay Thompson hit those incredible three-pointers that would later be remembered as one of the greatest playoff performances, I began to understand why people called the NBA postseason "a second season."

The memory of that night came rushing back to me recently when I was trying to explain the playoff system to my cousin who's just getting into basketball. He kept asking questions I couldn't immediately answer - why do some teams get to skip the first round? How do tie-breakers work? What's the difference between conference finals and the actual finals? That's when I realized even many longtime fans don't fully grasp the intricacies of the system. So I decided to create what I wish I had back then - a complete guide to understanding how NBA playoffs work. The journey to comprehending the playoff structure reminds me of something I heard Philippine sports officials say recently about developing local talent: "Here we are launching a very big program that is a game-changer to Philippine sports, at no cost to the Philippine government and no cost to the Philippine Sports Commission." In much the same way, understanding the playoffs doesn't require any special qualifications - just curiosity and a love for the game.

Let me walk you through how it actually works, starting with the basic structure. The NBA playoffs involve 16 teams total - 8 from the Eastern Conference and 8 from the Western Conference. These teams are seeded based on their regular season records, with division winners automatically getting top-four seeds. The seeding matters more than you might think - just ask the 2015 San Antonio Spurs who finished with 55 wins but ended up as the 6th seed due to tiebreakers. The playoffs follow a strict bracket format, meaning once the matchups are set, there's no reseeding after each round. This creates some fascinating potential matchups - like when the 8th seeded Memphis Grizzlies stunned the top-seeded Spurs in 2011, creating one of the most memorable upsets in recent history.

The first round follows a best-of-seven format, which means teams need to win four games to advance. This is where home-court advantage becomes crucial - the higher seeded team gets to host Games 1, 2, 5, and 7. I've always believed the 2-2-1-1-1 format (that's the pattern of home games) creates more dramatic series than the old 2-3-2 format used in the Finals until 2014. There's something about a Game 7 on someone else's court that separates the truly great teams from the merely good ones. Remember LeBron's iconic block on Andre Iguodala in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals? That happened on the road, cementing Cleveland's comeback from 3-1 down against the 73-win Warriors.

As we move deeper into the playoffs, the intensity ratchets up significantly. The conference semifinals feature the eight teams that survived the first round, followed by the conference finals where we get our two finalists - one from each conference. The NBA Finals then pit these conference champions against each other in what's arguably the most prestigious series in basketball. What many casual viewers miss is how much strategy evolves throughout these rounds. Coaches will make subtle adjustments game to game - changing defensive schemes, altering rotation patterns, even modifying offensive sets to exploit specific matchups. The 2020 Lakers, for instance, used completely different defensive strategies against Portland, Houston, Denver, and Miami in their championship run.

The playoff system has evolved over time too. Before 1984, the first round was actually best-of-five, and the playoff field has expanded and contracted throughout NBA history. The play-in tournament introduced in 2020 adds another layer of excitement, giving teams finishing 7th through 10th in each conference one last shot at making the proper playoffs. Personally, I love this addition - it keeps more teams engaged later into the season and creates must-win scenarios that feel like playoff games before the playoffs even begin.

When you step back and look at the entire structure, you begin to appreciate how brilliantly it's designed to crown a worthy champion. It's not just about having the best record - it's about surviving multiple series against different styles of play, overcoming injuries, making in-series adjustments, and performing under pressure. The 1995 Houston Rockets proved this perfectly - they finished as the 6th seed but went on to win the championship, the lowest seed ever to do so. That's why I always tell new fans - don't just watch the Finals. The real drama often happens in the earlier rounds, where legends are made and dreams are shattered in equal measure. Understanding how NBA playoffs work transforms how you watch basketball - every possession tells a story, every game becomes a chapter, and every series feels like an epic novel unfolding before your eyes.