When did the NBA change the Playoffs from best-of-five to best-of-7 games?

The NBA are constantly looking at ways to improve and enhance basketball and further the appeal of the game globally. From the likes of the Global Games initiative that recently saw a series of regular season matches contested in Abu Dhabi (UAE) through to the introduction of the Play-in tournament to offer teams outside the top seven an olive branch as the seventh through to tenth teams in each conference competing for the eighth place in the Playoffs.

The Playoffs are the pinnacle of the NBA season and a time when many casual basketball fans start to pay attention as the drama and intrigue in each conference start to unfold.

Best-of-seven

As of 2003, a best-of-seven mechanic was employed to decide which team advanced in the series, this replaced a best-of-five system that was used in the first round from 1961 to 1967 and from 1984 to 2002 before it was also expanded.

The current system now sees the eight teams per conference contesting the first round (and subsequent rounds) of the Playoffs in a best-of-7 with all four rounds of the NBA playoffs played over a best-of-7. Teams are not reseeded after each round and the team with the better regular-season record in each series secured home court advantage for that series.

Full screen

This change in the system was introduced to benefit higher seeds as it reduced the likelihood of an upset by a lower seed. It also meant that any team that secured a 4–0 whitewash may have to have to wait up to two weeks to play their next series against a team that had won 4–3.