The playoffs, postseason, or finals of a sports league are a game or series of games played after the regular season by the top competitors, usually but not always with a single-elimination system, to determine the league champion or a similar accolade.

In the U.S. and Canada, the vast distances and consequent burdens on cross-country travel have led to regional groupings of teams, usually called ''divisions.'' Generally, during the regular season, teams play more games against opponents that are within their own grouping than those outside it. Since every team has not necessarily had a chance to prove itself against every other team, a playoff is necessary every season. Any team that wins its grouping is eligible to participate in the playoffs. As playoffs became more popular, they were expanded to allow teams that finished second or even lower in the grouping to participate. If a team has to be the best of all the lower-ranked teams, these teams are known as wild card teams, such as in the Major League Baseball system.

In England playoffs are used in association football to decide promotion for lower finishing teams, rather than to decide a champion in the way they are used in North America. In the Championship (the second tier of English football) teams finishing 3rd to 6th after the regular season compete to decide the final promotion spot to the Premier League.

National Basketball Association

The present organization known as the National Basketball Association, then called the BAA (Basketball Association of America), had its inaugural season in 1946–47.

In the current system, eight clubs from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs, with separate playoff brackets for each conference. In the 2002–03 season, the first-round series were expanded from best-of-5 to best-of-7; all other series have always been best-of-7. In all series, home games alternate between the two teams in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, except the NBA World Championship.

The 2-3-2 finals format was adopted for the 1985 finals, copying the format that was then in effect in the National Hockey League. Prior to 1985, almost all finals were played in the 2-2-1-1-1 format (although the 1971 finals between Milwaukee and Baltimore were on an alternate-home basis, some 1950s finals used the 2-3-2 format, and the 1975 Golden State-Washington and 1978 and 1979 Seattle-Washington finals were on a 1-2-2-1-1 basis). Also, prior to the 1980s, East and West playoffs were on an alternate-home basis except for those series when distance made the 2-2-1-1-1 format more practical.

Teams are seeded according to their regular-season record. The three division champions and best division runner-up receive the top four seeds, with their ranking based on regular-season record. The remaining teams are seeded strictly by regular-season record. However, should the best division runner-up have a higher record than other division champs, it could be seeded as high as 2nd.

However, the NBA system differs from other sports playoffs in the fact that division champions are not guaranteed home-court advantage at any time in the playoffs, as home-court advantage is decided strictly on regular-season record, without regard to seeding.

The NBA playoffs are often criticized for having too many teams, as it is common to see teams with losing regular season records in the playoffs.

National Football League

Evidence of playoffs in professional football dates to at least 1919, when the "New York Pro Championship" was held in Western New York (it's possible one was held in 1917, but that's not known for sure). The Buffalo and Rochester metropolitan areas each played a championship game, the winners of which would advance to the "New York Pro Championship" on Thanksgiving weekend. The top New York teams were eventually absorbed into the NFL upon its founding in 1920, but the league (mostly driven by an Ohio League that did not have true championship games, though they frequently scheduled ''de facto'' championship matchups) did not adopt the New York league's playoff format, opting for a championship based on regular season record for its first twelve seasons; as a result, four of the first six "championships" were disputed. Technically, a vote of league owners was all that was required to win a title, but the owners had a gentlemen's agreement to pledge votes based on a score (wins divided by the sum of wins and losses, with a few tiebreakers). When two teams tied at the top of the standings in 1932, an impromptu playoff game was scheduled to settle the tie.

The National Football League divided its teams into divisions in 1933 and began holding a single playoff championship game between division winners. In 1950 the NFL absorbed three teams from the rival All-America Football Conference, and the former "Divisions" were now called "Conferences", echoing the college use of that term. In 1967, the NFL expanded and created four divisions under the two conferences, which led to the institution of a larger playoff tournament. After the AFL-NFL merger brought the American Football League into the NFL, the NFL began to use three divisions and a single wild card team in each conference for its playoffs, in order to produce eight contenders out of six divisions; this was later expanded so that more wild card teams could participate.

In 2002 the NFL added its 32nd team, the Houston Texans, and significantly reshuffled its divisional alignment. The league went from 6 division winners and 6 wild card spots to 8 division winners and only 4 wild card qualifiers. The winners of each division automatically earn a playoff spot and a home game in their first rounds, and the two top non-division winners from each conference will also make the playoffs as wild-card teams. The top two teams with the best records in the regular season get a first round bye, and each of the bottom two division winners plays one of the two wild-card teams. Each winner of a wild-card game then plays one of the two bye teams. The winners of these two games go to the conference championships, and the winners of those conference championship games then face each other in the Super Bowl.

NASCAR

NASCAR implemented a "playoff" system beginning in 2004, that they coined the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup". Currently, only NASCAR's top series uses the system. In the original version of the Chase (2004–2006), following the 26th race of the season, all drivers in the top 10 and any others within 400 points of the leader got a spot in the 10-race playoff. Like the current system, drivers in the Chase had their point totals adjusted. However, it was based on the number of points at the conclusion of the 26th race. The first-place driver in the standings led with 5,050 points; the second-place driver started with 5,045. Incremental five-point drops continued through 10th place with 5,005 points).

The first major change to the Chase was announced by NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France on January 22, 2007. After 26 races, the top 12 drivers advanced to contend for the points championship and points were reset to 5000. Each driver within the top 12 received an additional 10 points for each win during the "regular season," or first 26 races, thus creating a seeding based on wins. As in previous years, the Chase consisted of 10 races and the driver with the most points at the conclusion of the 10 races was the NEXTEL Cup Series Champion. Under the points system then in use, drivers could earn 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and 5 bonus points for leading a single lap. Brian France explained why NASCAR made the changes to the chase:

"The adjustments taken [Monday] put a greater emphasis on winning races. Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport -- especially during the Chase -- to be more about winning."

Beginning with the 2008 season, the playoff became known as the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" due to the NEXTEL/Sprint merger.

The current format of the Chase was announced by France on January 26, 2011, along with several other changes, most significantly to the points system. After 26 races, 12 drivers will still advance to the Chase, but the qualifying criteria have changed, as well as the number of base points that drivers receive at the points reset.

Only the top 10 drivers in points now automatically qualify for the Chase. They are joined by two "wild card" qualifiers, specifically the two drivers ranked from 11th through 20th in points who have the most race wins (with tiebreakers used if needed to select exactly two qualifiers). These drivers then have their base points reset to 2,000 instead of the previous 5,000, reflecting the greatly reduced points available from each race (a maximum of 48 for the race winner, as opposed to a maximum of 195 in the pre-2011 system). After the reset, the 10 automatic qualifiers receive 3 bonus points for each race win, while the wild card qualifiers receive no bonus.

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) itself does not use the terms "playoffs" or "tournament" for postseason action. Instead they use the term "postseason" as the title of the official elimination tournament held after the conclusion of Major League Baseball's regular season. It consists of a first round best-of-7 series (new for 2011) and two rounds of best-of-seven series for the League Championship and World Series.

MLB has stuck with "____ Series" for each level of its postseason tournament. In the Majors, the singular term "playoff" is reserved for the rare situation in which two (or more) teams find themselves tied at the end of the regular season and are forced to have a playoff game (or games) to determine which team will advance to the postseason. Thus, in the Majors, a "playoff" is actually ''part of the regular season'' and thus can be called a "Pennant playoff". However, the plural term "playoffs" is conventionally used by fans and media to refer to baseball's postseason tournament (and has always been used by Minor league baseball for its own postseason play), so this article defers to that usage.

MLB is the oldest of the major American professional sports, dating back to the 1870s. As such, it is steeped in tradition. The final series to determine its champion has been called the "World Series" (originally "World's Championship Series" and then "World's Series") as far back as the National League's contests with the American Association during the 1880s.

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League playoff system is an elimination tournament competition for the Stanley Cup, consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The first three rounds determine which team from each conference will advance to the final round, dubbed the Stanley Cup Final. The winner of that series becomes the NHL and Stanley Cup champion. The current Stanley Cup Champions are the Boston Bruins.

The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of four match-ups in each conference, based on the seedings (# 1 vs. # 8, # 2 vs. # 7, # 3 vs. # 6, and # 4 vs. # 5). In the second round, or Conference Semifinals, the top remaining conference seed plays against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pair off (unlike the NBA, for example, where the 1–8 winner always plays the 4–5 winner, and the 2-7 to play 3-6, regardless of who wins). In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Final.

For the first three rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record). In the Stanley Cup Finals, it goes to the team with the better regular season record. In all rounds the team with home-ice advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, while the opponent hosts Games 3, 4 and 6 (Games 5–7 are played "if necessary").

Association football

As a rule, international association football (soccer) has only had championship playoffs when a league is divided into several equal divisions/conferences/groups (Major League Soccer, Primera División de México) and/or when the season is split into two periods (as in many leagues in Latin America). In leagues with a single table done only once a year, as in most of Europe, playoff systems are not used.

A ''test match'' is a match played at the end of a season between a team that has done badly in a higher league and one that has done well in a lower league of the same football league system. The winner of the test match plays in the higher league the following year, and the loser in the lower league.

Belgium

In the Belgian Pro League, the 15th team out of 16 (starting this year as compared to the 17th out of 18 in previous seasons) in the final standings has to join a playoff pool with three teams from the Belgian Second Division after each season, to determine which of these teams gets to play in the Pro League the oncoming season. The lowest ranked team of the Pro League is relegated and replaced by the Second Division champion.

Originally, these playoffs were introduced in 1974 and were part of the Second Division, to determine which team was promoted to the highest level together with the division champions. From the 2005-06 season on, only one team was relegated directly from the First Division, with the 17th team taking part in the playoff. As a result, this playoff is still called the Belgian Second Division Final Round, although one team from the Pro League now takes part each year.

Starting the 2009-10 season, play-offs are held to determine the champion and tickets for the Champions League and Europa League. The six highest ranked teams play home-and-away matches against each other; a total of 10 matches each. The 6 participating teams start with the points accumulated during the regular competition divided by two. The first 3 teams after play-offs get a European ticket. The fourth ranked team (or fifth, when the cup holder is already qualified for European football) plays a knock-out match against the winner of play-off 2. The teams ranked 7-14 play in two groups. All points gained from the regular competition are lost. The two group winners play a final match to determine the winner of play-off 2. The winning team plays a final match against the fourth ranked team (or fifth) for the last European ticket.

The play-off system has been criticized because more points per match can be earned in the play-off stage than in the regular competition. This way the team who wins the most matches isn't automatically the national champion. The biggest upside in favor of the play-off system is the higher number of matches (40 instead of 34 compared to the previous season) and more topmatches. The extra matches also generate higher revenues for the teams.

Nonetheless, the higher number of matches takes an extra toll on teams and players. Besides play-offs, the Royal Belgian Football Association (KBVB) also introduced Christmas football in order to complete the extra matches in time. This posed some problems because a few matches had to be cancelled due to snowy pitches . The delays will probably cause the tight schedule to fail and postpone the end of the season.

England

When the Football League was first expanded to two divisions in 1892, test matches were employed to decide relegation and promotion between them, but the practice was scrapped in favour of automatic relegation and promotion in 1898.

The use of play-offs to decide promotion issues returned to the League in 1986 with the desire to reduce the number of mid-table clubs with nothing to play for at the end of the season. The Football Conference introduced play-offs in 2002 after the Football League agreed to a two-club exchange with the Conference.

The top two teams in the Football League Championship and in Football League One are automatically promoted to the division above and thus do not compete in the play-offs. The top three teams in Football League Two and the champion of Conference National are also automatically promoted. In each of these divisions the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places compete in two-legged semi-finals with the higher-placed club enjoying home advantage in the second leg. The away goals rule does not apply for the semi-finals, which has led to some games swinging the way of a team that otherwise would have been beaten by the rule. The Football League play-off finals were originally played in two legs, at both teams' home grounds, but were later changed to one-off affairs, which are played at Wembley Stadium in London.

In 2003, Gillingham proposed replacing the current play-off system with one involving six clubs from each division and replacing the two-legged ties with one-off matches. If adopted, the two higher-placed clubs in the play-offs would have enjoyed first-round byes and home advantage in the semi-finals. It was a controversial proposal — some people did not believe a club finishing eighth in the League could compete in the Premiership while others found the system too American for their liking. Although League chairmen initially voted in favour of the proposal, it was blocked by The FA and soon abandoned.

The championship of every division in English football is determined solely by the standings in the league. However, a championship play-off would be held if the top two teams were tied for points, goal difference and goals scored; to date, this has never happened.

Greece

Starting in the 2007–08 season, Superleague Greece instituted a playoff system to determine all of its places in European competition for the following season, except for that of the league champion. Currently, the league is entitled to two Champions League places and three in the Europa League. The playoff currently takes the form of a home-and-away mini-league involving the second- through fifth-place teams, under the following conditions:

The fifth-place team starts the playoffs at 0 points.

The remaining teams start with a number of "bonus points" determined as follows:

* The number of points earned by the fifth-place team during the main league season is subtracted from the totals of each other club involved in the playoffs.

* The resulting number is then divided by 5 and rounded to the nearest whole number.

At the end of the playoffs, the winner receives the country's second Champions League place, and the remaining teams receive Europa League berths, entering the competition at different stages according to their playoff finishes.

Italy

In 2004-05, Italy's professional league introduced a promotion playoff to its second tier of football, Serie B. It operates almost identically to the system currently used in England. The top two clubs in Serie B earn automatic promotion to Serie A with the next four clubs entering a playoff to determine who wins the third promotion place, as long as fewer than 10 points separate the third and fourth-placed teams (which often occurs).

Like the English playoffs, the Italian playoffs employ two-legged semi-finals, with the higher finisher in the league table earning home advantage in the second leg. If the teams are level on aggregate after full time of the second leg, away goals are not used, but extra time is used. Unlike England, the Italian playoff final is two-legged, again with the higher finisher earning home advantage in the second leg. In both rounds, if the tie is level on aggregate after extra time in the second leg, the team that finished higher in the league standings wins.

In 2004, Italy's football (soccer) league used a two-legged test match to determine one spot in the top level of its system, Serie A. Some leagues in continental Europe combine automatic promotion/relegation with test matches. For example, in the Netherlands, only one club is automatically relegated from its top level, the Eredivisie, each season, with the winner of the second-flight being promoted. The next two lower-placed teams enter a promotion/relegation mini-league with high-placed teams from the Dutch First Division

Japan

J.League in Japan used a test match series between the third-from-bottom team in J1 and third-place team in J2 (see J. League Promotion/Relegation Series) from 2004 to 2008. The Promotion/Relegation Series concept dates as far back as 1965 and the first season of the Japan Soccer League.

The Japan Football League, the current Japanese third division, uses the Promotion/Relegation Series only when the number of clubs in the league needs to be filled with clubs from the Japanese Regional Leagues.

Mexico

Mexico's top flight league, the Primera División de México, divides its 18 teams into three groups of six. In each of two annual tournaments, every team plays every other team in the league once (17 games), after which the top two teams in each group advance to the ''Liguilla'' and the next four best teams overall advance to the ''Repechaje''. The four Repechaje teams play a single home-and-away round, with the best team (by points) facing the worst team and the second-best facing the second-worst. The winners of these two series advance to the Liguilla.

In the Liguilla, all rounds are home-and-away. Teams are drawn so the best team plays the worst, the second-best plays the second-worst, and so on. After one round, the teams are redrawn so the best remaining team again plays the worst remaining one and the second-best faces the second-worst in the semi-finals. The two winners of this round play each other for the championship.

There is no playoff between the Apertura and Clausura winner. As a result, the league crowns two champions each year. After each Clausura, the team with the lowest points-per-game total for the previous six tournaments (three years, counting only Primera División games) is relegated to Primera División A to be replaced by that league's champion (if eligible).

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, a playoff was introduced in season 2005-2006. It is used to determine which teams from the Eredivisie qualify for European football. The playoff system has been criticized by clubs, players and fans as the number of matches will increase. Under the original playoff format, it was possible, though thoroughly unlikely, that the runner-up would not qualify for Europe; the following year, the format was changed so that the second-place team was assured of no worse than a UEFA Cup berth. Starting in 2008–09, the format was changed yet again. The champion goes directly to the Champions League; the runner-up enters the second qualification round of the CL; the number three enters the fourth (and last) qualification round of the UEFA Europa League (EL; the new name of the UEFA Cup from 2009–10 onward) and the number four goes to the third qualification round of the EL. The only play-off will be for the clubs placed 5th through 8th. The winner of that play-off receives a ticket for the second qualification round of the EL.

Playoffs are also part of the promotion and relegation structure between the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie, the two highest football leagues in the Netherlands.

Scotland

The Scottish Premier League experimented briefly with playoffs in the mid-1990s, with only one team - Dundee United - achieving promotion through it (Partick Thistle were relegated at their expense). Currently, the bottom team is relegated to the First Division of the Scottish Football League, and the top team from there is promoted. In the First/Second and Second/Third Division, while the champions are automatically promoted and the bottom team relegated, there are playoffs of the second-bottom teams against the second, third and fourth placed teams from the league below. Home and away ties decide semi-finals and a final, and the overall winner plays in the higher league the following season, with the loser in the lower league.

Spain

For the 2010/11 season, the Segunda División experimented with promotion playoffs between the 3rd to 6th placed teams, similar to the rules in the English and Italian systems. However, due to reserve teams being allowed to compete in the same football league system, subsequent places may be allowed to play off depending on reserve teams finishing within the 3rd to 6th places.

At a lower level, playoffs in Segunda División B take place to decide the divisional title between the 4 group winners, and to decide which other teams would be promoted, as follows:

The first set of matches are an elimination tournament between the 4 group winners. The winners of each match are promoted and then play a final for the tier title.

After the tier final takes place, the teams who finished 2nd in each of the 4 groups play the teams who finished 4th, whereas the teams who finished third play each other. The 6 winners, along with the 2 Group winners who lost their games in the earlier semifinals, play in each other in a knockout format until there is 2 teams remaining who are promoted.

Previously a play off system had been used in which the teams finishing 3rd and 4th from last in La Liga had played off against the teams finishing 3rd and 4th in the Segunda División. This system had been introduced in the 1980s but ended in 1998-99 .

United States and Canada

In Major League Soccer in the U.S. and Canada, at the end of the regular season, the top 3 teams in each Conference receive byes to the Conference Semifinals, the 2nd round of the postseason knockout tournament. The winner of each conference will play for the MLS Cup, the league championship. The 4 teams regardless of conference with the next most points will be the wild card teams.

In the Wild Card round (starting in 2011), the league's 7th-seeded team plays the 10th seed, while the 8th plays the 9th, with the winners playing the top-seeded team in their respective Conference Semifinals. This round is single elimination. The lowest-seeded survivor plays the Supporters' Shield winner.

Conference Semifinal series are conducted under a home-and-away, aggregate-goal format, with single-game Conference Championships determining the MLS Cup Finalists. For each Conference, the top seed plays the wild-card winner, and the 2nd seed faces the 3rd seed in the Conference Semifinal series, with the lower seeded team hosting the first game.

The team that scores the most goals in the home-and-away series advances to the single elimination Conference Championship. If the teams are tied after 90 minutes in the Conference Semifinal series, a 30-minute extra time period (divided into two 15-minute periods) would be played followed by a penalty-kick shootout, if necessary. The team with the higher seed between the two Conference finalists will host the Conference Championship game.

In the case of ties after regulation in the Wild Card, Eastern and Western Conference Championship games and MLS Cup, 30 minutes of extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods) would be played followed by a penalty-kick shootout, if necessary, to determine the winners.

MLS does not use the away goals rule in any playoff series.

Women's Professional Soccer, which currently operates only in the U.S., conducts a four-team stepladder tournament consisting of one-off knockout matches. The third seed hosts the fourth seed in the first round. The winner of that game advances to the "Super Semifinal", hosted by the second seed. The Super Semifinal winner travels to the top seed for the championship game.

International playoffs

In international football, playoffs were a feature of the 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cup final tournaments. They are still a feature of the qualification tournaments for the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Football Championship.

In the qualification playoffs for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, for example:

In Europe, after the first-place finishers in each of eight groups received automatic finals places, along with the two second-place teams that had earned the most points against teams in the top six of their individual groups, the remaining six second-placed teams entered playoffs to select three teams for the finals.

The winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia played the fifth placed team from the South American qualifying tournament, Uruguay.

The fifth-placed team of the Asia qualifying tournament, Bahrain played the fourth-placed team in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, Trinidad and Tobago.

Knockout competitions

In addition to their league competitions, most European footballing nations also have knockout cup competitions - English football, for example, has the FA Cup and the League Cup. These competitions are open to many teams—92 clubs compete for the League Cup, and hundreds compete for the FA Cup. These competitions run concurrently with the "regular season" league competitions and are not regarded as playoffs.

Australian rules football

Playoffs are used in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are known as ''finals'' - although unlike North American leagues, participating teams only come from within a single division, and also consist of single matches rather than series.

The top eight (out of 16) teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the finals. Two teams are eliminated in each round until only two teams remain (the participants in the Grand Final), the system is structured so that higher-ranked teams are given a more advantageous draw.

The system used by the AFL works as follows:

Week One

First-ranked team vs fourth-ranked team (1st Qualifying Final)

Second-ranked team vs third-ranked team (2nd Qualifying Final)

Fifth-ranked team vs eighth-ranked team (1st Elimination Final)

Sixth-ranked team vs seventh-ranked team (2nd Elimination Final)

The winners of the qualifying finals advance directly to week three, while the losers of the elimination finals are eliminated. The remaining four teams continue on to week two.

Week Two

Loser of 1st qualifying final vs winner of 1st elimination final (1st Semi-Final)

Loser of 2nd qualifying final vs winner of 2nd elimination final (2nd Semi-Final)

The two winners advance to week three while the losers are eliminated.

Week Three

Winner of 1st qualifying final vs winner of 2nd semi-final (1st Preliminary Final)

Winner of 2nd qualifying final vs winner of 1st semi-final (2nd Preliminary Final)

The two winners advance to the Grand Final, held in week four at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Rugby league

Play-offs in National Rugby League

Play-offs are used to decide the premiers of the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australasia, where they are known as ''finals'' (also as ''semi finals'' or ''semis'') - although unlike North American leagues, participating teams only come from within a single division, and also consist of single matches rather than series. The term play-off was used in the NSWRL competition to describe sudden death matches used as tie breakers for finals qualification.

The top eight teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the finals. Two teams are eliminated in each round until only two teams remain (the participants in the Grand Final), the system is structured so that higher-ranked teams are given a more advantageous draw. The McIntyre Final Eight System, used by the NRL but previously used by the AFL, works as follows:

Week One

Fourth-ranked team vs fifth-ranked team (4th Qualifying Final)

Third-ranked team vs sixth-ranked team (3rd Qualifying Final)

Second-ranked team vs seventh-ranked team (2nd Qualifying Final)

First-ranked team vs eighth-ranked team (1st Qualifying Final)

After this round, the four winners are ranked in order of their positions at the end of the regular season, as are the four losers. The two highest ranked winners advance directly to week three, while the two lowest ranked losers are eliminated. The remaining four teams continue on to week two.

Week Two

Fourth highest-ranked winner vs second highest-ranked loser (1st Semi Final)

Third highest-ranked winner vs highest-ranked loser (2nd Semi Final)

The two winners advance to week three while the losers are eliminated.

Week Three

Highest-ranked winner from Week One vs winner of 1st semi-final (1st Preliminary Final)

Second highest-ranked winner from Week One vs winner of 2nd semi-final (2nd Preliminary Final)

The two winners advance to the Grand Final, held in week four at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

Play-offs in Super League

The European Super League rugby league competition has used a play-off system to decide its champion since 1998. The original play-off format featured the top five highest-ranked teams after the regular season rounds. Starting in 2002, the play-offs added an extra spot to allow the top six to qualify. With the addition of two new teams for the 2009 season, the play-offs expanded to eight teams. The current format works like this:

Week One

Qualifying Play Off 1: 1st vs 4th ''(winner receives a bye to week three)''

Qualifying Play Off 2: 2nd vs 3rd ''(winner receives a bye to week three)''

Elimination Play Off 1: 5th vs 8th ''(loser goes out)''

Elimination Play Off 2: 6th vs 7th ''(loser goes out)''

Week Two

Preliminary Semi Final 1: QPO 1 Loser vs EPO 1 Winner

Preliminary Semi Final 2: QPO 2 Loser vs EPO 2 Winner

Week Three

Qualifying Semi Final 1: QPO 1 Winner vs PSF 1 ''or'' PSF 2 Winner *

Qualifying Semi Final 2: QPO 2 Winner vs PSF 1 ''or'' PSF 2 Winner *

Week Four

Grand Final: Winners of Qualifying Semi-Finals meet at Old Trafford

''* Opponents decided by the QPO winner (in Week 1) that finished higher in the regular season

Other leagues

The two tiers directly below Super League, the Championship and Championship 1—formerly the National Leagues until the 2009 addition of a French club to the previously all-British competition—still use the old top six system to determine which teams are promoted between its levels. Before the 2008 season, when Super League established a franchising system and ended automatic promotion and relegation in Super League, the National Leagues also used this system to determine the team that earned promotion to Super League. The top six system involves the following:

Week One

Elimination Semi-final A: 3rd vs 6th (4th vs 7th in Championship 1)

Elimination Semi-final B: 4th vs 5th (5th vs 6th in Championship 1)

Week Two

Elimination Final: Winners of Elimination Semi-final A vs Winners of Elimination Semi-final B

Qualification Match: 1st vs 2nd (2nd vs 3rd in Championship 1)

Week Three

Final Qualifier: Winners of Elimination Final vs Losers of Qualification Match

Week Four

Grand Final: Winners of Qualification Match vs Winners of Final Qualifier (in Super League, at Old Trafford)

Rugby union

England

Premiership

In the Aviva Premiership the top four qualify for the play-offs, where they are not referred to by that name. The tournament is a Shaughnessy playoff: the team who finished first after the league stage plays the team who finished fourth, while the team who finished second plays the team who finished third in the Semi-Finals with the higher-ranked team having homefield advantage. The winners of these semi-finals qualify for the Premiership Final at Twickenham, where the winner will be champions of the league.

Championship

The second-level RFU Championship also uses play-offs—but unlike the Premiership, the Championship officially uses the term "play-offs". At the end of the league stage, the top eight teams advance to a series of promotion play-offs, while the bottom four drop into a relegation play-off.

In the promotion play-offs, the eight teams involved are divided into two groups of four each, with the teams within each group playing a home-and-away mini-league. The top two teams in each group advance to a knockout phase consisting entirely of two-legged ties. The top team in each pool plays the second-place team from the other group in the semi-finals; the winners advance to the finals, where the ultimate winner earns promotion to the Premiership (assuming that the team meets the minimum criteria for promotion).

In the first year of the play-offs in 2009–10, all eight teams started equal. After that season, it was decided to reward teams for their performance in league play. Since 2010–11, the top two teams at the end of the league stage carry over 3 competition points to the promotion play-offs; the next two teams carry over 2; the next two carry over 1; and the final two teams carry over none. (Points are earned using the standard bonus points system.)

The relegation play-offs, like the first stage of the promotion play-offs, are conducted as a home-and-away league, with the bottom team at the end of league play relegated to National League 1. As with the 2009–10 promotion play-offs, that season's relegation play-offs started all teams equal. From 2010–11 forward, each team in the relegation play-offs carries over 1 competition point for every win in the league season.

France

The highest level of French rugby union, the Top 14, expanded its playoffs starting with the 2009–10 season from a four-team format to six teams. In the new system, the top two teams after the double round-robin season receive first-round byes. The first-round matches involve the third- through sixth-place teams, bracketed so that 3 hosts 6 and 4 hosts 5. The winners then advance to face the top two teams in the semifinals, which are held at neutral sites (a traditional feature in the French playoffs). The winners of these semifinals qualify for the final at Stade de France, where the winner will be champions of the league and receive the Bouclier de Brennus. Before 2009–10, the playoffs format was identical to that of the English Premiership with the exception of neutral sites for the semifinals.

The second level, Rugby Pro D2, uses the standard four-team playoff, but involving the second- through fifth-place teams, to determine the second of two teams promoted to the next season's Top 14 (the champions earn automatic promotion). The promotion semifinals are held at the home fields of the second- and third-place teams, and the promotion final is held at a neutral site.

Celtic League

The Celtic League, operating in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales since its inception in 2001 and also including teams in Italy since 2010, adopted a four-team playoff starting with the 2009–10 season. The format is essentially identical to that of the English Premiership, except that the Grand Final is held at the home stadium of the top surviving seed.

New Zealand

Both domestic competitions in New Zealand rugby — the fully professional ITM Cup (formerly Air New Zealand Cup) and the nominally amateur Heartland Championship — use a playoff system to determine their champions, although the term "playoff" is also not used in New Zealand, with "finals" used instead.

Air New Zealand/ITM Cup

In the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup, the first season of the revamped domestic structure in that country, the top six teams after Round One of the competition automatically qualified for the finals, officially known as Round Three. Their relative seeding was determined by their standings at the end of the Top Six phase of Round Two. The teams that finished below the top six entered repechage pools in Round Two, with the winner of each pool taking up one of the final two finals slots. The seventh seed was the repechage winner with the better record, and the eighth seed was the other repechage winner.

From 2007 onward, the former Rounds One and Two were collapsed into a single pool phase of play in which all teams participated. In 2007 and 2008, the top eight teams advanced to the playoffs; in what was intended to be the final season of the Air New Zealand Cup format in 2009, the Shaughnessy format was used, with the top four advancing to the finals. The New Zealand Rugby Union ultimately decided to stay with the previous format for the rebranded 2010 ITM Cup, with the same four-team playoff as in 2009.

The playoffs in each season format have consisted of a single-elimination tournament. The teams are bracketed in the normal fashion, with the higher seed receiving home-field advantage. In 2007 and 2008, the playoff was rebracketed after the quarterfinals, with the highest surviving seed hosting the lowest surviving seed and the second-highest surviving seed hosting the third surviving seed. The winners of these semifinals qualify for the Cup Final, held at the home ground of the higher surviving seed.

Starting in 2011, the ITM Cup will split into the top-level Premiership and second-tier Championship, each with seven teams. Due to the 2011 season running up against the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the competition window will be truncated, with only the top two teams in each division advancing to the finals. The Shaughnessy finals series will return to both divisions in 2012.

Heartland Championship

In the Heartland Championship, teams play for two distinct trophies — the more prestigious Meads Cup and the Lochore Cup. The 12 Heartland Championship teams are divided into two pools for round-robin play in Round One, with the top three in each pool advancing to the Meads Cup and the bottom three dropping to the Lochore Cup.

Round Two in both the Meads and Lochore Cups is an abbreviated round-robin tournament, with each team playing only the teams it did not play in Round One. The top four teams in the Meads Cup pool at the end of Round Two advance to the Meads Cup semifinals; the same applies for the Lochore Cup contestants.

The semifinals of both cups are seeded 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, with the higher seeds earning home field advantage. The semifinal winners advance to their respective cup final, hosted by the higher surviving seed.

Super Rugby

Throughout the pre-2011 history of Super Rugby—both in the Super 12 and Super 14 formats—the competition's organiser, SANZAR, held a Shaughnessy playoff involving the top four teams. The top two teams on the league ladder each hosted a semifinal, with the top surviving team hosting the final.

In May 2009, SANZAR announced that it would adopt an expanded playoff when the competition added a new Australian team for the 2011 season. The current Super Rugby playoff involves six teams—the winners of each of three conferences (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa conferences), plus the three non-winners with the most competition points without regard to conference affiliation.

The top two conference winners receive a first-round bye; each plays at home against the winner of an elimination match involving two of the four other playoff teams. As in the previous system, the final is hosted by the top surviving seed.

Canadian Football League

The playoffs begin in November. After the regular season, the top team from each division has an automatic home game berth in the Division Final, and a bye week during the Division Semifinal. The second-place team from each division hosts the third-place team in the Division Semifinal, unless the fourth-place team from the opposite division finishes with a better record. This "crossover rule" does not come into play if the teams have identical records—there are no tiebreakers. While the format means that it is possible for two teams in the same division to play for the Grey Cup, so far only one crossover team has won the divisional semifinal game. The winners of each Division's Semifinal game then travel to play the first place teams in the Division Finals. Since 2005, the Division Semifinals and Division Finals have been sponsored by Scotiabank and are branded as the "Scotiabank East Championship" and "Scotiabank West Championship". The two division champions then face each other in the Grey Cup game, which is held on the third or fourth Sunday of November.

The Edmonton Eskimos are notable for qualifying for the CFL playoffs every year from 1972 to 2005, a record in North American pro sports. The Eskimos are also notable for being the first crossover team to ever win the divisional semifinal game.

Playoffs in Japan's Baseball Leagues

Before 1950 the original Japanese Baseball League had been a single-table league of franchises. After it was reorganized into the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) system, a series of playoffs ensued between the champions of the Central League and Pacific League.

Before the playoff system is placed in both professional leagues, the Pacific League had applied a playoff system for twice. The first is between 1973–1982, which they applied a split-season and have an 5-game playoff between the winning teams of both halves of season (unless a team won both of the half so that they need not to play such games). And the second time was between 2004–2006, which the top three team will play a two-staged stepladder knockout (3 games in first stage and 5 games in second stage) the decide the League Champion (and the team playing in Japan Series). After applied with such system, the Seibu Lions (now Saitama Seibu Lions), Chiba Lotte Marines and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, which claimed the Pacific League Champion under such system, were all able to clinch the following Japan Series in that season. The success of such playoff system made Central League, which never used playoff system to decide League Champion, show interest in a playoff system. In 2007, a new playoff system, named "Climax Series", is introduced to both professional leagues in NPB to decide the team playing in Japan Series. The Climax Series basically applied the rule of the playoff system in Pacific League. But unlike the previous playoff system, Climax Series does not affact teams' standing nor individual records in regular season which the previous playoff system in Pacific League did, this means the winner of Japan Series may not be the winner of the League. The Chunichi Dragons takes the advantage of such system in the first Climax Series-implemented season, finishing second in regular season, but swept Hanshin Tigers and League Champion Yomiuri Giants in Central League Climax Series, and beat the Champion of Pacific League Climax Series Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to claim their first Japan Series in 52 years.

In 2008, the format of Climax Series will have a slight change, in which the second stage will be played for 6-games, and in which the League Champion will have an extra 1-game advantage.

See also

Playoff format

Shaughnessy playoff system

Playoff beard

Season (sport)

Grand Final

Notes and references

Category:Tournament systems Category:Terms used in multiple sports

be-x-old:Плэй-оф cs:Playoff de:Play-off fa:پلی‌آف fr:Série éliminatoire ko:플레이오프 it:Play-off he:פלייאוף nl:Play-off ja:プレーオフ no:Playoff (golf) pl:Play-off pt:Sistema eliminatório ru:Олимпийская система simple:Playoffs fi:Pudotuspelit sv:Slutspel th:เพลย์ออฟ uk:Плей-оф

name	Peja StojakovićПеђа Стојаковић
position	Small forward
height ft	6
height in	10
weight lb	229
birth date	June 09, 1977
birth place	Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
nationality	Serbian
draft year	1996
draft round	1
draft pick	14
draft team	Sacramento Kings
career start	1992
years1	1992–1994 |team1Crvena zvezda (FR Yugoslavia)
years2	1994–1998 |team2PAOK (Greece)
years3	– |team3Sacramento Kings
years4	2006 |team4Indiana Pacers
years5	– |team5New Orleans Hornets
years6	2010–2011 |team6Toronto Raptors
years7	2011 |team7Dallas Mavericks
highlights	NBA Champion (2011) Greek League MVP (1998) EuroBasket MVP (2001) 3x European Player of the Year: * Euroscar Award winner (2001) * 2× Mister Europa Player of the Year (2001–2002) 3× NBA All-Star (2002–2004) 2× NBA Three-Point Shootout champion (2002–2003) All-NBA Second Team (2004)
profile	predrag_stojakovic
medal templates	}}

}} Predrag Stojaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Предраг Стојаковић, ) (born June 9, 1977), also known by his nickname Peja (Пеђа), is a Serbian professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 10 (2.08 m), Stojaković plays the small forward position. Known for his shooting abilities, he was the winner of the NBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Shootout twice, and the first European-born player to win one of the All-Star Weekend competitions. Stojaković is fourth all-time in regular season three-point field goals made in the NBA.

After playing for KK Crvena zvezda and PAOK BC basketball club, Stojaković was drafted fourteenth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 1996 NBA Draft. After two seasons on the bench, he had a breakthrough season in 2000–01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award. A three-time All-star and a member of 2004 All-NBA Second Team, Stojaković enjoyed success with the Kings reaching 2002 Western Conference Finals. He also played for the Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets and Toronto Raptors.

Stojaković led the Yugoslavian national team to gold medals in the 2001 EuroBasket and 2002 FIBA World Championship. Often considered to be one of the most successful Serbian basketball players, Peja was named the Euroscar European Basketball Player of the Year by the Italian sports newspaper ''Gazzetta dello Sport'' and the Mister Europa European Player of the Year twice by the Italian sports magazine Superbasket.

Professional career

Stojaković was born to Serbian parents, Miodrag and Branka Stojaković, in Slavonska Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia but his family fled to Belgrade during the Yugoslav wars. Stojaković played with Serbian giants KK Crvena zvezda for 2 senior seasons, and won a national championship.

PAOK (1994–1998)

Peja, as he was called during his time in PAOK, scored a memorable last-second three-pointer against Olympiacos in Piraeus in the 1998 Greek playoff semi-finals series, winning the match 58–55 for PAOK. That victory, which ended the five year reign of Olympiacos as Greek Champions, allowed PAOK to face Panathinaikos in the finals series, although the club had a disadvantage in home games and ultimately lost the series (and the league) 3–2. Stojaković was closely guarded throughout the series by his future coach in New Orleans, Byron Scott, who was wrapping up his basketball career as the top player for Panathinaikos, and did not play at his normal level.

In his final season with PAOK, Stojaković averaged 23.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals.

Sacramento Kings (1998–2006)

The 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Stojaković was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the first round (14th overall pick) of the 1996 NBA Draft while playing in Greece. He continued to play there until the Kings signed him prior to the 1998–99 NBA lockout season. After two seasons on the bench with Sacramento, he had a breakthrough season in 2000–01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award.

In 2001–02, he played in the NBA All-Star Game for the first time. His scoring average went up to 21.2 ppg, and he reached career highs in shooting percentage (.484) and three-point percentage (.416). His scoring average dropped slightly to 19.2 ppg in 2002–03, but he played again in the All-Star Game. In both seasons, he won the three-point shooting contest conducted during All-Star Weekend.

In 2003–04, Stojaković was again selected as an All-Star, and finished second in the league in scoring with a career-high 24.2 ppg. He finished fourth in MVP voting and was voted on to the All-NBA 2nd Team. He also led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.933) and three-pointers made for the season (240). In 2004–05, he missed 16 games to injury, and was somewhat hampered in several games, but still averaged 20.1 ppg.

Indiana Pacers (2006)

On January 25, 2006, Stojaković was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for forward Ron Artest, ending his eight-year tenure with the Kings. However, he missed four games of their first round playoff series with the New Jersey Nets, all losses.

New Orleans Hornets (2006–2010)

During the 2006 offseason, he re-signed with the Pacers, only to be traded to the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for the draft rights to Andrew Betts. On November 14, 2006, Stojaković scored a career-high 42 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, and became the first player in NBA history to open the game with 20 straight points for his team. He was soon sidelined for several months by injuries, including back surgery, as a result missing most of the 2006–07 season.

Toronto Raptors (2010–2011)

On November 20, 2010, Stojaković was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Jerryd Bayless in exchange for Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks, and David Andersen.

After appearing in only two games, on January 20, 2011, Stojakovic was released by the Raptors. He had missed 26 games due to a left knee injury.

Dallas Mavericks (2011–present)

On January 24, 2011 he signed a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks won the NBA finals this season.

Career transactions

June 26, 1996: Drafted 14th overall in 1996 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.

June 15, 1998: Signed with Sacramento.

January 25, 2006: Traded by Sacramento to the Indiana Pacers for Ron Artest. July 12, 2006: Signed and traded by Indiana to the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for draft rights of Andrew Betts.

November 20, 2010: Traded by New Orleans to Toronto along with Jerryd Bayless for Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks, and David Andersen.

January 20, 2011: Released by Toronto. January 24, 2011: Signed by Dallas.

International career

As a member of the FR Yugoslavia national basketball team, he earned gold medals at the 2001 European Championships (Eurobasket), held in Turkey, and the 2002 FIBA World Championships, held in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also participated at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Stojaković was the MVP of Eurobasket 2001, and was a member of the all-tournament team in Indianapolis in 2002, along with fellow NBA stars Manu Ginóbili, Dirk Nowitzki, and Yao Ming, as well as New Zealand's Pero Cameron.

Personal life

Stojaković acquired Greek citizenship when he joined PAOK in Greece. He is married to Greek model Aleka Kamila and the couple have two children. Peja also served in the Greek army, an obligation to be fulfilled by all male Greek citizens.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Sacramento | 48 || 1 || 21.4 || .378 || .320 || .851 || 3.0 || 1.5 || .8 || .2 || 8.4 |- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Sacramento | 74 || 11 || 23.6 || .448 || .375 || .882 || 3.7 || 1.4 || .7 || .1 || 11.9 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Sacramento | 75 || 75 || 38.7 || .470 || .400 || .856 || 5.8 || 2.2 || 1.2 || .2 || 20.4 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Sacramento | 71 || 71 || 37.3 || .484 || .416 || .876 || 5.3 || 2.5 || 1.1 || .2 || 21.2 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Sacramento | 72 || 72 || 34.0 || .481 || .382 || .875 || 5.5 || 2.0 || 1.0 || .1 || 19.2 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Sacramento | 81 || 81 || 40.3 || .480 || .433 || .927 || 6.3 || 2.1 || 1.3 || .2 || 24.2 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Sacramento | 66 || 66 || 38.4 || .444 || .402 || .920 || 4.3 || 2.1 || 1.2 || .2 || 20.1 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Sacramento | 31 || 31 || 37.0 || .403 || .397 || .933 || 5.3 || 2.2 || .6 || .1 || 16.5 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Indiana | 40 || 40 || 36.4 || .461 || .404 || .903 || 6.3 || 1.7 || .6 || .2 || 19.5 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | NO/Oklahoma City | 13 || 13 || 32.7 || .423 || .405 || .816 || 4.2 || .8 || .6 || .3 || 17.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | New Orleans | 77 || 77 || 35.2 || .440 || .441 || .929 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .7 || .1 || 16.4 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | New Orleans | 61 || 59 || 34.2 || .399 || .378 || .894 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .8 || .0 || 13.3 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | New Orleans | 62 || 55 || 31.4 || .404 || .375 || .897 || 3.7 || 1.5 || .8 || .1 || 12.6 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | New Orleans | 6 || 0 || 14.8 || .424 || .440 || .857 || 1.0 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || 7.5 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Toronto | 2 || 0 || 11.0 || .700 || .667 || 1.000 || 1.5 || .5 || .0 || .0 || 10.0 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Dallas | 25 || 13 || 20.2 || .429 || .400 || .938 || 2.6 || .9 || .4 || .1 || 8.6 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 804 || 665 || 33.5 || .450 || .401 || .895 || 4.7 || 1.8 || .9 || .1 || 17.0 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 3 || 0 || 14.7 || .364 || .385 || .000 || 2.0 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || 7.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 1998–99 | align="left" | Sacramento | 5 || 0 || 21.6 || .346 || .214 || 1.000 || 3.8 || .4 || .6 || .0 || 4.8 |- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Sacramento | 5 || 0 || 25.8 || .400 || .462 || .667 || 3.4 || .6 || .8 || .0 || 8.8 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Sacramento | 8 || 8 || 38.4 || .406 || .346 || .968 || 6.4 || .4 || .6 || .4 || 21.6 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Sacramento | 10 || 7 || 33.8 || .376 || .271 || .897 || 6.3 || 1.0 || .5 || .0 || 14.8 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Sacramento | 12 || 12 || 40.5 || .480 || .457 || .850 || 6.9 || 2.5 || .8 || .4 || 23.1 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Sacramento | 12 || 12 || 43.1 || .384 || .315 || .897 || 7.0 || 1.5 || 1.8 || .2 || 17.5 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Sacramento | 5 || 5 || 40.4 || .470 || .367 || .955 || 5.2 || 1.4 || .8 || .2 || 22.0 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Indiana | 2 || 2 || 25.5 || .444 || .000 || .857 || 4.5 || 2.0 || .5 || .5 || 11.0 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | New Orleans | 12 || 12 || 37.9 || .436 || .549 || .926 || 5.4 || .5 || .5 || .1 || 14.1 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | New Orleans | 5 || 5 || 32.4 || .367 || .308 || .923 || 2.8 || .4 || .8 || .2 || 11.2 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Dallas | 19 || 0 || 18.4 || .408 || .377 || .778 || 1.7 || .4 || .6 || .1 || 7.1 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 95 || 63 || 32.7 || .418 || .376 || .900 || 4.9 || 1.0 || .8 || .2 || 14.4

Awards and achievements

NBA Champion: 2011

All-NBA Team:

:*Second Team: 2004

3× NBA All-Star: 2002, 2003, 2004

2× NBA Three-point Shootout Champion: 2002, 2003

4th in NBA history in career free-throw percentage at .895 4th in NBA history in 3-pointers made with 1,760 6th in NBA playoff history in free-throw percentage at .900 5th in NBA history in 3-pointers attempted with 4,392 First player in NBA history to start a game off by scoring 20 consecutive points for his team. He and Steve Nash of Phoenix were the only players to rank in the top 25 in both free-throw and 3-point percentage during the '04–'05 and '05–'06 seasons.

Greek League MVP 1998

Won the 2001 Euroscar Award, given to the best European basketball player by Italian newspaper ''La Gazzetta dello Sport''. Named Mister Europa Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002 by Italian weekly magazine Superbasket.

See also

Peja Stojaković Children's Foundation

List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career playoff 3-point scoring leaders

References

External links

NBA.com profile

Gregor Fučka | years= 2001, 2002 | after= Šarūnas Jasikevičius}}

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:People from Požega, Croatia Category:Serbs of Croatia Category:Serbian basketball players Category:Serbian expatriates in the United States Category:American people of Serbian descent Category:Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States Category:Greek basketball players Category:Greek people of Serbian descent Category:KK Crvena zvezda players Category:PAOK B.C. players Category:Sacramento Kings draft picks Category:Sacramento Kings players Category:Indiana Pacers players Category:New Orleans Hornets players Category:Olympic basketball players of Yugoslavia Category:Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Small forwards Category:Eurobasket-winning players Category:Toronto Raptors players Category:Dallas Mavericks players

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