List of NBA Game Sevens

List Of NBA Game Sevens

In the National Basketball Association (NBA), a game seven is the final game of a best-of-seven series in the NBA Playoffs. Based on the playoffs format arrangement, it is played in the venue of the team holding home-court advantage for the series. The necessity of a game seven cannot be known until the outcome of game six is determined, assuming that a series reaches the sixth contest. In other words, game seven is the only one in a series that cannot be guaranteed more than one game in advance. Due to the decisive nature of games seven, they are often "played more conservatively" and receive more media and fan attention.

The NBA Finals has always employed a best-of-seven series format. The Conference (or Division) Finals have used this format since 1958; the Conference (or Division) Semifinals since 1968; and the First Round since 2003. During the 1947 and 1948 playoffs, in which teams from different divisions met each other in the opening rounds, the first-place teams from each division played a best-of-seven series against each other before one advanced to the league finals. The other teams in the playoffs competed against each other in three best-of-three series to determine the other spot in the finals.

Since the inception of the NBA, 111 game sevens have been played. Of those, only 22 game sevens have been won by the road team. There have been 12 playoff seasons in which no game sevens were played: 1947, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1991, and 1999. Only one franchise has never played in a game seven: the Charlotte Bobcats, who had not appeared in the playoffs until 2010. The 1994 postseason held the record for most game sevens played, with five. In 1979, 1981, 1988, 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2012, four game sevens were played. Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks both hold the record for most game sevens played in a single season, having played three game sevens in 1988 and 1994 respectively.