Format & rules
The NBA features 30 franchises split between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Each team plays an 82-game regular season. The top six in each conference qualify directly for the playoffs; teams seeded 7th to 10th contest the play-in tournament (mid-April) for the final two spots. Each playoff round is a best-of-seven, culminating in the NBA Finals. Standings are ordered by winning percentage (W%), with head-to-head record and point differential as tiebreakers.