NBA playoff question

[WJMorris3]

San Antonio 1x  58  18 

Phoenix 2x        50    25 

Denver 3    42    34 

Dallas 4x    57    19 

L.A. Clippers 5  44  31

Memphis 6    44  32

Sacramento 7  40      37 

L.A. Lakers 8    40      37

(x - clinched berth, seeding next to team name)

So...

In the first round, even though they are a number 6 seed, Memphis would get home-court over Denver, the 3 seed?

How does that make any sense? What's the point of seeding the division winners 1-3 if it doesn't even get them the advantage?

Getting back to the original question, in the first round the top seed gets home court no matter what the records are. After the first round it goes by better record. I can confirm that because the Nets played the Pistons in the conference finals in '04 and the Nets were the 2 seed and the Pistons were the 3 seed and Detroit had home court because they had a better record. Unless the NBA changed something I'm pretty sure I'm right.

The first round is not special when it comes to home-court advantage rules... if the 6 is better than the 3, then the 6 gets home-court advantage. It's just never happened yet.

[Nick 1733]

For anyone that cares, Denver holds the tiebreaker against Memphis yet the Clippers hold the tiebreaker against Denver.

I don't understand it either, why have division winners if they aren't being rewarded for winning their division in the playoffs.

[Burkell007]

David Stern has made so many bad decisions in the last four years it's mindboggling.

He let the NBA leave NBC, he extended the first round to seven games, he allowed the Finals to turn into a series of god-awful concerts, and now this. I love the league, but the playoffs lack some legitimacy when its set up like this. Bud Selig has his "best interests of the game clause". Why can't David Stern do something to that extent to reseed the playoffs based on record only?

It can't be about money, because how does stupidity make any sports league richer?

yes the NBA on ABC is a joke, i rembemer back in the days of round ball rock , where we get playoff tripple headders noth days, now we only get one damn playoff game a week on network. What a joke

[TFoA]

David Stern has made so many bad decisions in the last four years it's mindboggling.

He let the NBA leave NBC, he extended the first round to seven games, he allowed the Finals to turn into a series of god-awful concerts, and now this. I love the league, but the playoffs lack some legitimacy when its set up like this. Bud Selig has his "best interests of the game clause". Why can't David Stern do something to that extent to reseed the playoffs based on record only?

It can't be about money, because how does stupidity make any sports league richer?

yes the NBA on ABC is a joke, i rembemer back in the days of round ball rock , where we get playoff tripple headders noth days, now we only get one damn playoff game a week on network. What a joke

Yes. OMG I used to love the Triple-headers, because

A-There really was a game of the week that meant something, instead of a game being between 2 teams with no playoff implications at all. It was always exciting.

B-Michael Jordan was almost always on NBC.

C-Marv Albert was almost always doing the games that Michael Jordan was on. I used to think Marv Albert was to MJ what Jimmy Hart was to Hulk Hogan.

D-Roundball Rock. Oh hell yeah.

Now we've got Al Michaels doing basketball, which is like Gary Thorne doing baseball. It just ain't right.

[nsentv]

Now we've got Al Michaels doing basketball, which is like Gary Thorne doing baseball. It just ain't right.

Not anymore. Al went to NBC, so Mike Breen will do the Finals this year. So that's one good thing.

[NYBadshah1]

A lot of times the #3 seed has home-court over the #2 seed (Blazers-Jazz, Spurs-Lakers from a few years back), but the first round also goes by record. The reason no one has any examples is because its never had to happen before. Before last year, with just 2 division winners, the only team seeded "out-of-place" was the #2 seed, and with two divisions its very hard for the #7 seed to have a better record than the #2 seed. That would mean that one entire division must suck and the other one must be really good. The #6 seed will have HCA if it has a better record than the #3 seed. This came up last year when the Atlantic Division sucked and it was possible that the Pacers could have HCA, and David Stern came out and said he didn't want teams to intentionally blow games. However, that whole point was moot when the Celtics went on a little run and had a better record.

[winters in buffalo]

Speaking of NBA playoffs... holy crap, what's with all the sub-.500 teams that are going to be in?

[nsentv]

The East this year is as bad as it was in 04. That was the year when the Knicks and Celtics both made it in without winning as many as 38 games. This year, I think the Sixers and Bulls are going to try and out-suck each other on their way to a 4-0 blowout by Detroit.

[HedleyLamarr]

ESPN confirmed it.

The team with the best record gets home-court advantage in the playoffs, no matter the seeding. So the #6 could get HC over the #3, regardless of if they're division champions.

Kinda takes the incentive of winning the division away, huh?

The NBA has got some issues.....

[WJMorris3]

ESPN confirmed it.

The team with the best record gets home-court advantage in the playoffs, no matter the seeding. So the #6 could get HC over the #3, regardless of if they're division champions.

Kinda takes the incentive of winning the division away, huh?

The NBA has got some issues.....

Be it noted that 6 hosting 3 is the only likely scenario. 5 hosting 4 is almost impossible (you'd need a 3 way tie for 4th that 4th wins over both but 5 would beat 4 on tiebreak) and 7 over 2 is also almost impossible (you'd need the top 5 teams in the conference to be in the same division.)

Maybe they'll fix it if a 6 hosts a 3?

[OMMF]

5 hosting 4 is almost impossible (you'd need a 3 way tie for 4th that 4th wins over both but 5 would beat 4 on tiebreak)

Ok, you got me.

How could 4 win over both but 5 win over 4 in a tiebreak?

[WJMorris3]

5 hosting 4 is almost impossible (you'd need a 3 way tie for 4th that 4th wins over both but 5 would beat 4 on tiebreak)

Ok, you got me.

How could 4 win over both but 5 win over 4 in a tiebreak?

A situation where that might apply is as follows.

Three way tie for 4th. Let's say that teams A, B, and C played each other four times.

A and B split their season series. A swept C, 4-0, and B won 3 of 4 against C. So A is 6-2, B is 5-3, and C is 1-7.

A is 4, B is 5, C is 6. That said, B and A would be even on their tiebreaker, and thus would go to the next step. If B had a better record against the conference, they'd host A, even though A is 4 and B is 5.

Like I said, practically impossible.

[HedleyLamarr]

5 hosting 4 is almost impossible (you'd need a 3 way tie for 4th that 4th wins over both but 5 would beat 4 on tiebreak)

Ok, you got me.

How could 4 win over both but 5 win over 4 in a tiebreak?

A situation where that might apply is as follows.

Three way tie for 4th. Let's say that teams A, B, and C played each other four times.

A and B split their season series. A swept C, 4-0, and B won 3 of 4 against C. So A is 6-2, B is 5-3, and C is 1-7.

A is 4, B is 5, C is 6. That said, B and A would be even on their tiebreaker, and thus would go to the next step. If B had a better record against the conference, they'd host A, even though A is 4 and B is 5.

Like I said, practically impossible.

Nicely thought out, but one problem.....the tiebreaker has already determined the seedings. Since the teams had equal records, they went to the tiebreaker. Once the seedings were determined, the higher seeded team would get HC since they tied with the same record.

[WJMorris3]

Nicely thought out, but one problem.....the tiebreaker has already determined the seedings. Since the teams had equal records, they went to the tiebreaker. Once the seedings were determined, the higher seeded team would get HC since they tied with the same record.

Just getting this bumped up, but I note that if two teams with equal records face in the playoffs, they'd go by who wins the tiebreaker for those two teams only. (For instance, if Denver and the Clippers tied at 47 wins and were 3rd and 6th, the Clippers would have home advantage because they had beaten the Nuggets three times out of four).

Now, as I write this, Denver, Memphis, and the Clippers each have three games remaining. Memphis and the Clippers are tied for 5th at 46 wins, while Denver has 44 wins. The remaining schedules are as follows.

DENVER

vs. Kings

vs. Rockets

at Sonics

MEMPHIS

at Rockets

vs. Clippers

at TWolves

LOS ANGELES

vs. Sonics

at Grizzlies

at Mavericks

Denver holds the tiebreaker against Memphis (having won 2 of 3 games) but Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker on Denver (winning 3 of 4 games).

Memphis will hold the tiebreaker on Los Angeles if the two teams tie. Memphis has won 2 of the 3 games played so far, and should the Clippers beat Memphis, Memphis will have won more conference games.

In short, I think the Clippers might not have to tank very much to get HCA against Denver. They need to win no more than Memphis does over the next 3 games, but they need at least one win, or one Denver loss, to ensure that they will have the edge over the Nuggets. Given that they are at the Mavericks to close the season, I figure they might be able to win two games and still get the #6, assuming the Grizzlies beat the Rockets tonight. They'd be safer losing to the Sonics as well, but that may suspiciously look like tanking.

[WJMorris3]

In fact, as an addendum, now it's official.

The Nuggets can only get to 46 wins now. The Grizzlies are at 47, and the Clippers are 46 but own the tiebreaker.

The #6 seed in the West WILL have home court advantage.

[bullsfan4life]

The East this year is as bad as it was in 04. That was the year when the Knicks and Celtics both made it in without winning as many as 38 games. This year, I think the Sixers and Bulls are going to try and out-suck each other on their way to a 4-0 blowout by Detroit.

Speaking of the Bulls, with beating the Heat today, they're in the playoffs.

WOO-HOO

[ninersdd]

The Nuggetts got their butts whooped against the Kings last night

[nsentv]

The Nuggets won't even make it to Game Six. Memphis or the Clippers versus Phoenix in the second round.

[NJTank]

If I was the Clippers and Grizzlies I would throw every game the rest of the way 5th Seed=a sure loss against the Mavericks, 6h Seed=Nuggets and a great shot at the 2nd Round.

[WJMorris3]

We'll see what happens Tuesday -- they play each other.