Division then Conference

[MavsFanFinley]

This is taken from the SA express notebook.

Not such an edge:

If the Spurs lose to Dallas on Friday, they wouldn't enjoy as large a tiebreaker advantage as thought.

When the NBA released its standings last week, it listed conference record as the second divisional tiebreaker behind head-to-head record. A league spokesman, however, says that was an error: The correct second tiebreaker is division record.

The change is important because the Spurs have a 37-9 conference record while the Mavericks are 33-12. If the Spurs lose to Dallas on Friday, the season series would be split and the Mavericks would have a 12-3 division record to the Spurs' 11-3.

The Spurs have two division games remaining after Friday: Sunday against Memphis; and a trip to Houston on April 19. Dallas has one: Saturday against New Orleans.

The NBA changed its tiebreakers after Charlotte joined the league before the 2003-04 season, but the switch was not highly publicized. In previous years, conference record was the second tiebreaker regardless of whether the teams were in the same division.

The Spurs and Mavericks finished the 2002-03 season with 60-22 records. Dallas had a better Midwest Division record, but the Spurs received the conference's top seed because they had the better conference mark.

The league itself has had trouble keeping track of the change. For part of the season, the NBA Web site listed the old tiebreaker rules.

Of course, none of this will be relevant should the Spurs win Friday — they then would have a 3-1 advantage in the teams' four meetings — or if they finish ahead of Dallas in the standings.