While the NBA playoffs do not necessarily have the same appeal as March Madness, there is definitely still a lot to enjoy about the postseason. 16 teams (eight from each respective conference) can claim their spot in the playoffs. Teams will play others in their conference (East and West) until the NBA Finals, where the top team from each conference will battle for the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. Teams are seeded based off their overall record in the regular season. If two teams happen to have the same overall record, then it falls to a tiebreaker, with the higher seed going to the team that won the matchup between the two teams in the regular season. Matchups for the first-round go as follows: 1 versus 8, 2 versus 7, 3 versus 8, and 4 versus 5. Every series is a best of seven, meaning the first team to win four games wins the series. With single elimination being the major factor to March Madness’ overall success and competitiveness, a seven-game series doesn’t sound too appealing, right? Wrong. Unlike March Madness, NBA playoff games aren’t played on a neutral court. Each team has two home games, with the first two going to the higher seed. In the case of a game seven, the home court advantage will be rewarded to the higher seed. This makes fan support crucial for home games, as one of the hardest things to do in sports is to play on the road. One of the major factors in any sports postseason is controlling the home court advantage. According to Bleacher Report, the higher overall seeds have won 64.9% of their games at home in the postseason. Bleacher Report also states that teams decrease turnovers by 3.1%, increase scoring by 3.4%, and decrease fouling by 4.7% while playing at home. Most people assume that games lack competitiveness in the playoffs and that the higher seed will win, but that is not always the case. Like March Madness, it is heavily favored for the No. 1 overall seed to win their matchup against the lowest seed. In fact, no eight seed has ever won a series against a one seed. This does not mean games cannot be competitive though. Currently, in the Western Conference, the No. 1 seed Golden State Warriors and back-to-back champions are facing off against the No. 8 seed Los Angeles Clippers. Most expected the series to be a sweep but the Clippers came back from a 31 point deficit in Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1. Though Golden State won the series 4-2, the Clippers’ comeback demonstrates that anything can happen.

What also makes the NBA playoffs fun and intense is the storylines. We see headlines like, “Can the Warriors three-peat?”, “Who wins the East with LeBron now in the West?”, and “Are the Nuggets a legit contender?”. Matchups only add to the intensity. We get to see Most Valuable Player candidates like Joel Embiid and Most Improved Player front-runner D’Angelo Russell face each other, as well as potentially witnessing the Warriors and Rockets face off in the second-round—a rematch of last years Western Conference Finals which went to a game seven.

For some, the NBA playoffs may seem a step down from March Madness. However, there are a lot of aspects of the NBA playoffs that create a fun and intense atmosphere, including the fans, star-studded matchups, and newsworthy storylines. If you get the chance, I encourage you to watch a game or two from the wide selection of playoff matchups.