Regular season record is what determines home court in the playoffs - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

MFFL · 03-11-2002, 11:19 PM

I finally found the article that I was looking for. Winning the Midwest would gain us the #2 seed but would not guarantee a home court series in the second round. We could actually play the #3 seed in the second round and they would be the home team IF they had a better record than us (or won the tie-breaker).
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Here's the link

Basketball U on the Playoffs

April is an exciting month for NBA fans. Every regular season game takes on greater importance as teams jockey to make the NBA Playoffs and secure home-court advantage for the postseason. One or two wins often decide if a team makes the Playoffs or watches the postseason on television. Likewise, one or two wins often separate the first and second place teams.

The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the First Round of the NBA Playoffs. The division winner with the best record in each conference is ranked No. 1, the other division winner is ranked No. 2 and the remaining six teams are ranked Nos. 3-8 according to their win-loss records.

In the Western Conference, for example, this means that even if the teams with the top two records are from the Midwest Division, the Pacific Division winner still will rank second. The team with the better regular season record has home court advantage in each round of the Playoffs.

The First Round is a best-of-five series, so the team that wins three games wins the round. The opening round has a 2-2-1 format, meaning the first two games are played on the home court of the team with the better regular season record, the third and fourth games (if both are necessary) are played on the other team's court and the fifth game (if necessary) returns to the original court.

The four teams in each conference that win their respective First Round series proceed to the best-of-seven Conference Semifinals, played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. This means the team that wins four games wins the series. The two winning teams in each conference then advance to the Conference Finals, a best-of-seven series with a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

The last stage is the NBA Finals, which pits the top Eastern Conference team with the best squad in the West. It is a best-of-seven series with a 2-3-2 format.

In the event that two or more teams are tied in the standings, a series of tiebreakers are applied to determine which team receives the higher seeding. If one tiebreaker still yields a tie, the next tiebreaker is used and so on, until the higher seeding is determined.

The tiebreakers include:

Better record in head-to-head games
Higher winning percentage in conference games
Higher winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division)
Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference
Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in opposite conference
Higher point differential between points scored and points allowed

In the 1994 NBA Playoffs, the Denver Nuggets made history as the first ever eighth seed to beat a number one seed with their First Round defeat of the Seattle SuperSonics. What made this even more remarkable was that the Nuggets started the series down two games to none. Denver finished the series with a Game Five win in Seattle. Nuggets centre Dikembe Mutombo blocked an NBA record 31 shots in the five-game series.

The feat was repeated in the 1999 NBA Playoffs as the eighth-seeded New York Knicks defeated the first-place Miami Heat in a First Round series. Guard Allan Houston made a last second off-balance jump shot in Game Five to give New York the series win. The Knicks used this momentum to later defeat the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers, but their playoff run ended in the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

Murphy3 · 03-11-2002, 11:22 PM

truthfully..if i had to pick one over the other..i'd rather have the higher seed..

it would be nice to lock up not seeing the lakers (if they finish first) until the western conference finals... however, if the lakers finish second in the west, i'd just assume be the first or fourth seed

Drbio · 03-11-2002, 11:25 PM

Thanks for that article. I seriously thought the second conference winner locked up a home advantage.

MFFL · 03-11-2002, 11:29 PM

I think it's to prevent a situation where one conference is horribly bad and would have the 4th or 5th best record in the conference from having an undeserved home series in the second round.

Drbio · 03-11-2002, 11:30 PM

But you could argue that there is no incentive for winning the division then. But I like this way better.

MFFL · 03-11-2002, 11:33 PM

But there IS an incentive for winning the division. Say your division is really weak and the best team is only the 5th most wins in the conference. In a normal playoff matchup, they would play the #4 team on the road. But since they have the #2 seed, they play the #7 team and thus would have a first round home series.

Drbio · 03-11-2002, 11:35 PM

That made my head hurt.