Introduction
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most popular professional basketball leagues in the world. It is based in North America and consists of 30 teams from the United States and Canada. Each season, these teams play a set number of games before the playoffs begin. In this article, we will discuss how many games are played in an NBA season before the playoffs start.
Regular Season Schedule
The NBA regular season typically starts in late October and runs until mid-April. During this time, each team plays a total of 82 games, evenly split between home and away games. These games are spread out over a period of approximately six months, with teams playing anywhere from two to four games per week.
This schedule is subject to change, however, due to various factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the NBA to play a shortened season with only 72 games in 2020-2021. Other factors that can impact the schedule include lockouts, labor disputes, or other unforeseen circumstances.
Playoffs Schedule
After the regular season is over, the top eight teams from each conference advance to the playoffs. These playoffs are a best-of-seven format, where the first team to win four games advances to the next round.
The playoffs typically start in mid-April and run until mid-June. During this time, the remaining teams compete in a single-elimination tournament until one team emerges as the champion.
Total Number of Games
When you add up the number of regular-season games and playoff games, the total number of games played in an NBA season can vary depending on the length of each playoff series. For example, in 2019, the NBA finals went to seven games, which meant that the total number of games played that season was 1,230 (82 regular-season games per team + 105 playoff games).
However, the total number of games can also be lower than that. As mentioned earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020-2021 season to 72 games, which meant that the total number of games played that season was only 1,008 (72 regular-season games per team + 84 playoff games).
Impact of COVID-19 on the NBA Season
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the NBA season. In March 2020, the NBA was forced to suspend the season after several players tested positive for the virus. The league was on hiatus for several months before it resumed play in July 2020, with all games being played at a single location (the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida) in a "bubble" environment to prevent the spread of the virus.
The 2020-2021 season was also impacted by the pandemic. The league was able to resume play in December 2020, but many games had to be postponed or rescheduled due to COVID-19 outbreaks among teams. In addition, many games were played without fans in attendance, which had a significant impact on the game-day experience for both players and fans.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the number of games played in an NBA season before the playoffs can vary depending on a number of factors. Typically, each team plays 82 games during the regular season, followed by a best-of-seven playoff series that can extend for up to 28 additional games. However, the schedule is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the number of games played, NBA fans around the world eagerly anticipate the start of the season each year and look forward to watching their favorite teams compete for the championship title.