The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the major professional basketball league in North America. The league was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league adopted its current name at the start of 1949–50 season when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). The league currently consists of thirty teams, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada. Each team plays 82 games in the regular season. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. The winners of the Conference Finals advance to the finals to determine the NBA champions.