Eight teams from each conference will participate in the playoffs. The top six teams in each conference, based on winning percentage, directly qualify for the playoffs; the seeding order of those teams is also based on winning percentage. If two or more teams have the same record, standard NBA tiebreaker rules are used.
The NBA Board of Governors approved a format for the 2021–22 season to have a play-in tournament involving the teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The 7th place team and 8th place team participate in a "double-chance" game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the 7-seed. The loser then plays the winner of the elimination game between the 9th place and 10th place teams to determine the playoff's 8-seed. The NBA's regular playoff format will then proceed as normal.
Each conference's bracket is fixed with no reseeding. All rounds are best-of-seven series; a series ends when one team wins four games, and that team advances to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, are in a 2–2–1–1–1 format with regards to hosting. In the conference playoffs, home-court advantage goes to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). Conference seedings are ignored for the NBA Finals: home court advantage goes to the team with the better regular-season record, and, if needed, ties are broken based on head-to-head record, followed by intra-conference record.