Game seven

A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (all rounds of the NBA playoffs), and the National Hockey League (all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs).

The game is generally played at the site of the team holding the home advantage across the series.

The nature of a best-of-seven series requires that the series be tied at 3 games apiece going into Game Seven, such that either team can take the series (advancing further in the playoffs or winning the championship) by winning the game. Because of this decisive nature, game sevens add an element of drama to their sports.

Aside from North American sports leagues, game sevens are also a fixture in many other sports around the world, mostly in baseball, basketball, and ice hockey leagues. Most codes of football do not employ a best-of-seven series (or any best-of-x series in general), hence game sevens are not played in those leagues.

List of NHL game sevens

In the National Hockey League (NHL), a game seven is the final game in a best-of-seven series in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Based on the playoffs format arrangement, it is played in the venue of the team holding home-ice 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 best-of-seven series that cannot be guaranteed more than one game in advance.

The Stanley Cup Finals first employed the best-of-seven format in 1939. The league's semifinals also used the best-of-seven format beginning that same year, as well as the quarterfinal round that was added in 1968. Beginning in 1982, the playoff format was changed from semifinals and quarterfinals, to conference finals and division finals, respectively. A division semifinal round was also added in 1982, but did not begin to use the best-of-seven format until 1987. Starting in 1994, the division final and division semifinal rounds became the conference semifinal and conference quarterfinal rounds, respectively.

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 game sevens, 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.