Draft:MPBL playoffs

MPBL playoffs

Most recent season or competition: 2023 MPBL playoffs
Sport	Basketball
Founded	2018
No. of teams	16
Most recent champion(s)	Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards (2022)
Most titles	5 teams (1 title each)
TV partner(s)	Cignal TV (One PH, Media Pilipinas TV)

The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) playoffs is the annual postseason tournament to determine the league champion. Sixteen teams, eight from each division, compete in a four-round elimination bracket, culminating with the MPBL Finals, where the two division champions meet in a best-of-five series.

Format

Held since the league's inaugural season, it first used a three-round bracket with eight teams since the league only had ten teams in that season. The Quarterfinals and Semifinals used a best-of-three series, while the Finals used a best-of-five series. In the first round, teams are matched by the team's seed in the regular season: the first seed matches with the eighth seed, the second matches with the seventh, the third matches with the sixth, and the fourth matches with the fifth.

When the league expanded in the 2018–19 season, the bracket was also expanded to accommodate to bigger size of the league, which resulted in the current format. An additional best-of-three round was added for a total of four, and with the introduction of divisions, the bracket was also divided into the North Division and South Division so that each division's champion would meet in the Finals.

Homecourt advantage

In the regular season, a series of games is played during gamedays, the same system is also used in the playoffs. Because of this, the league uses a different system in determining which teams hosts the games. This system is shown in the table below.

Seed		Court
First Round	Division Semifinals	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
1st	Highest	Home	Neutral	Home
2nd				Home or Neutral
3rd	Second-highest	Neutral	Home
4th
5th	Second-lowest	Neutral	Away	Away or Neutral
6th
7th	Lowest	Away	Neutral
8th				Away

Notes

• If one or two series feature a game 3, the highest-seeded remaining team hosts the games.
• If more than two series feature a game 3, the two highest-seeded remaining teams host the games.

Tiebreaker criteria

Should there be any ties in the regular season standings, the league uses the standard FIBA tiebreaker criteria:

1. Head-to-head record between tied teams
2. Head-to-head point differential between tied teams
3. Head-to-head points scored between tied teams
4. Overall point differential
5. Overall points scored

Playoff series history

2018 season

This was the only playoff tournament to feature the eight-team format.

	Quarterfinals (Best-of-3)					Semifinals (Best-of-3)					Finals (Best-of-5)
	1	Batangas City	2
	8	Bataan	0
						1	Batangas City	2
						4	Valenzuela	0
	4	Valenzuela	2
	5	Quezon City	1
											1	Batangas City	3
											3	Muntinlupa	1
	2	Bulacan	1
	7	Parañaque	2
						7	Parañaque	1
						3	Muntinlupa	2
	3	Muntinlupa	2
	6	Navotas	0

2018–19 season

This was the first playoff tournament to feature the sixteen-team format.

First Round (Best-of-3)

Division Semifinals (Best-of-3)

Division Finals (Best-of-3)

National Finals (Best-of-5)

N1

Bataan

2

N8

Caloocan

0

N1

Bataan

1

N4

Manila

2

N4

Manila

2

N5

Bulacan

0

N4

Manila

1

North Division

N3

San Juan

2

N2

Makati

0

N7

Quezon City

2

N7

Quezon City

0

N3

San Juan

2

N3

San Juan

2

N6

Navotas

0

N3

San Juan

3

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S8

Cebu City

0

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S5

Bacoor City

0

S4

General Santos

0

S5

Bacoor City

2

S1

Davao Occidental

2

South Division

S2

Batangas City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S7

Imus

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S6

Zamboanga

1

S3

Muntinlupa

1

S6

Zamboanga

2

2019–20 season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this playoff tournament was suspended midway through the Division Finals and had to be resumed in 2021.

First Round (Best-of-3)

Division Semifinals (Best-of-3)

Division Finals (Best-of-3)

National Finals (Best-of-5)

N1

San Juan

2

N8

Pasay

0

N1

San Juan

2

N4

Pampanga

0

N4

Pampanga

2

N5

Bataan

0

N1

San Juan

2

North Division

N3

Makati

1

N2

Manila

2

N7

Pasig

0

N2

Manila

1

N3

Makati

2

N3

Makati

2

N6

Bulacan

0

N1

San Juan

1

S1

Davao Occidental

3

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S8

Bicol

1

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S5

Zamboanga

0

S4

Batangas City

1

S5

Zamboanga

2

S1

Davao Occidental

2

South Division

S3

Basilan

1

S2

Bacoor City

2

S7

General Santos

0

S2

Bacoor City

1

S3

Basilan

2

S3

Basilan

2

S6

Iloilo

0

2022 season

First Round (Best-of-3)

Division Semifinals (Best-of-3)

Division Finals (Best-of-3)

National Finals (Best-of-5)

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

N8

Marikina

0

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

N4

Pampanga

0

N4

Pampanga

2

N5

Bataan

1

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

North Division

N3

San Juan

1

N2

Pasig

2

N7

Quezon City

0

N2

Pasig

0

N3

San Juan

2

N3

San Juan

2

N6

Valenzuela

0

N1

Nueva Ecija

3

S1

Zamboanga

1

S1

Zamboanga

2

S8

Muntinlupa

0

S1

Zamboanga

2

S5

Bacolod

1

S4

General Santos

1

S5

Bacolod

2

S1

Zamboanga

2

South Division

S2

Batangas City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S7

Bacoor City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S6

Rizal

0

S3

Sarangani

0

S6

Rizal

2

2023 season

First Round (Best-of-3)

Division Semifinals (Best-of-3)

Division Finals (Best-of-3)

National Finals (Best-of-5)

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

N8

Marikina

0

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

N4

Pampanga

0

N4

Pampanga

2

N5

Bataan

1

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

North Division

N3

San Juan

1

N2

Pasig

2

N7

Quezon City

0

N2

Pasig

0

N3

San Juan

2

N3

San Juan

2

N6

Valenzuela

0

N1

Nueva Ecija

3

S1

Zamboanga

1

S1

Zamboanga

2

S8

Muntinlupa

0

S1

Zamboanga

2

S5

Bacolod

1

S4

General Santos

1

S5

Bacolod

2

S1

Zamboanga

2

South Division

S2

Batangas City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S7

Bacoor City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S6

Rizal

0

S3

Sarangani

0

S6

Rizal

2

See also

• Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League