What Are the Overtime Rules in the NBA Playoffs?

The NBA Playoffs are here and that means two things. One, it's time to watch as some of the greatest athletes in the world craft their legacies in win-or-go-home series. And two, you will wake up at some point groggy from the night before with a Season 3 rerun of Charmed playing on television and it will warm your heart a bit.

You may have found this post because you were curious about the rules and regulations surrounding postseason overtime and we not too proud to ask. For that we welcome you and are pleased to be your guide on this journey to discover of this overtime format is the same as the regular season or if it has a weird twist like the Elam ending or drawing a winner out of a hat.

The easiest and only answer is that, yes, that NBA basketball that you know and love extends into the spring.

If tied at the end of regulation in the playoffs, there is a 130-second break until overtime begins. Five minutes are placed on the clock and a jump ball begins the action. All personal fouls carry over to the extra period and each team has access to two timeouts. If tied at the end of the first extra period, they dial up another until a winner emerges.

The first three non-shooting team fouls lead to inbounds plays while anything after the fourth results in two free throws. A team may commit one non-shooting foul in the final two minutes of overtime without sending its opponent to the free-throw line if it does not commit a total of three fouls in the first three minutes of overtime.

Coaches can use their challenge if they haven't previously used the one allotted. Once under two minutes, the same mechanisms are in place for triggering an official review.

That's it. Enjoy the games.