NBA Playoffs
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The NBA Playoffs are four rounds of competition among sixteen teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conferences (called Divisions, pre-1970) of the National Basketball Association. The winners of the First Round (or conference quarterfinals) advance to the Conference Semifinals, and the winners of the Conference Semifinals go on to the NBA Conference Finals. Finally, the champions of each conference face each other in the NBA Finals. Each round is a best-of-seven series, although the first was previously a best-of-five series. The NBA finals are played in a 2-3-2 format, meaning the first two and final two games (if necessary) are played at the court of the team possessing home court advantage, and all other rounds are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format.
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[edit] History
In the first season, 1947, of the NBA (called the BAA until the merger with the NBL in 1949) the top three teams from the Eastern and Western divisions were invited to the playoffs. The two division champions played a Semifinal best-of-seven series for entry into the finals. The other four teams played two rounds of best-of-three playoffs to face the winner of the Semifinal match. That year, the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the Chicago Stags 4 games to 1 in the first ever BAA Championship.
In the 1949 playoffs, an additional team from each Division was added, eliminating the byes, and two rounds of best-of-three series were played, followed by a best-of-seven championship. In 1950 the Minneapolis Lakers became the first champions of the newly named NBA, knocking off the Syracuse Nationals in 6 games.
The 1951 through 1953 playoffs changed the Division Finals into a best-of-five playoff. In 1954, the year the Indianapolis Olympians folded, the NBA Playoffs used a Round Robin for the first and only time in its history. Then, from 1955 to 1966 year, the league returned to the original 6-team format, expanding the Division Finals to a best-of-seven in 1958 and the Semifinals to a best-of-five in 1961.
In 1967 the field was again expanded to 8 teams, filling out the three-round bracket. A year later, the Division Semifinals were changed to best-of-seven playoff. Then, in 1975 and 1977, respectively, a fifth and sixth team were added to each Division, necessitating an additional First Round of best-of-three series.
Finally in 1984, the tournament expanded to its present 16-team format and the now-complete First Round was changed to a best-of-five playoff. In 2003 the first round was changed to also be best-of-seven.
Beginning with the 2005 season, with the addition of the 30th NBA franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, the NBA realigned its divisions. The result was that each conference would have three divisions of five teams each, and the winner of each division was guaranteed a top-three playoff seed, regardless of whether the team had one of the top eight records in its conference. This would change slightly after the 2005-06 season; while division winners still receive automatic playoff berths, they are no longer guaranteed a top-three seed, as discussed below. However, the division champion was and still is not guaranteed home-court advantage. Under this system, a division-leading team with a poor record could be ranked number three but face a sixth seed with a better record, which would then have the home-court advantage.
[edit] 2006 NBA Playoffs controversy
The previous playoff format, in place for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 NBA Playoffs, after the NBA's divisions were re-aligned with the addition of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, created controversy during the 2005-06 season and playoffs, and was changed prior to the 2006-07 NBA season.[1]
It has been custom in the major American professional sports leagues (as in the NHL and MLB) to seed division winners higher than any playoff participants who did not win their division, regardless of how their won-loss record fares overall in the conference or league (although home-court advantage is still usually assigned based solely upon the won-lost record). Prior to the 2006-2007 NBA season, such was the case in the NBA.
When the NBA was aligned into two conferences, each with two divisions, any team finishing in second place in their division could be seeded no better than 3rd in the conference, as the top two seeds were reserved for the division winners. There does not appear to have ever been much discussion to replace that system.
After the NBA realigned its two conferences into three divisions each, each division consisting of five teams (with the rules governing playoff seeding being for the most part unchanged), the possibility now existed for the two teams with the best won-loss record in the conference to meet in the conference semi-finals of the playoffs instead of the conference finals. During the 2005-06 NBA season the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs of the Southwest Division in the Western Conference won games at a rate far greater than any other team in the league (with the exception of the Detroit Pistons, an Eastern Conference team), and it became clear to many analysts and basketball fans that not only were these the two best teams in the conference, but that they would have to meet during the conference semi-finals instead of the conference finals, and that such a matchup was "unfair",[2] not only because it fails to match up the best teams at the latest possible playoff round, but also because it gives half of the conference's other playoff teams an easier time, since those teams do not have to face both of the top teams in order to win the conference.
Southwest Division winner San Antonio earned the 1st seed, while Dallas received the 4th seed. The Phoenix Suns, winners of the Pacific Division, and possessors of the third best record, were seeded 2nd, and the Denver Nuggets, winners of the Northwest Division (and tied for only the seventh-best record in the conference), were seeded 3rd.
The 5th seeded Memphis Grizzlies and 6th seeded Los Angeles Clippers had a meeting near the end of the regular season, after all division winners had been clinched and Dallas had received the 4th seed. Memphis and Los Angeles both had clinched at least the 6th seed and had only to determine which team would receive the 5th seed and face Dallas in the first round, playing four of seven games on the road. The 6th seed would play three seed Denver, with four of seven games at home. Additionally, even if the 5th seed managed to beat heavily-favored Dallas, they'd almost certainly face San Antonio in the second round. The 5th seed would need to beat the two best teams in the conference to reach the conference finals while the 6th seed would never have to play more than one of the two teams, and not until the conference finals.
This led to speculation about whether Memphis or Los Angeles would have much commitment to winning their match-up in the second-to-last game of the season, since it was clearly most advantageous to lose the game in order to gain the 6th seed. Los Angeles eventually lost to Memphis without much evidence to support the idea that the Clippers lost intentionally, [3] though one can probably find articles to that effect on the web from sports columnists and fans alike.
In the first round of the playoffs, the favored Los Angeles Clippers defeated Denver in five games, while Memphis was swept by favored Dallas.
On August 3, 2006, the NBA announced a revised playoff seeding system. Under the new rules, the three division winners and top non-division winner are the recipients of the top four seeds based solely upon record (assuring the division winner with the worst record of the three no worse than a 4th seed), with the remaining four teams seeded by won-loss record as well.
[edit] Seeding Criteria
[edit] Tied Teams
In the event that two teams end up tied for the same seed, the following tiebreakers are employed[4]:
1. Head-to-head 2. Division record (if the teams are in the same division) 3. Conference record 4. Record vs. Playoff teams, own conference 5. Record vs. Playoff teams, other conference 6. Net points, all games
[edit] Trivia
- Only two 8th seeded teams have managed to win a series versus the number 1 seeded Team: The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Seattle SuperSonics 3-2 in 1994; and the New York Knicks eliminated the Miami Heat 3-2 in 1999 (which was a lockout shortened season). In addition, the Knicks became the only 8th seeded team to reach the NBA Finals.
- The 1994-95 Houston Rockets were the lowest seeded team to win the NBA Finals. In 1995, the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic (57-25 WL record) in four games. The defending champs were the sixth seed in a strong Western Conference that season. The Rockets beat the Utah Jazz (60-22 WL record) three games to two; the Phoenix Suns (59-23 WL record) in seven games and the league's 1995 MVP David Robinson led San Antonio Spurs (62-20 WL record) in six games to reach the finals, becoming the only NBA team in history to beat four teams with 50 or more wins in the playoffs. That season the Rockets were 5-0 in games when they faced playoff elimination, living up to their nickname "Clutch City."
- The Boston Celtics possess the most overall NBA Finals series wins with an overall record of 16-3. The Los Angeles Lakers have played in the most NBA Finals series (28) with an overall record of 14-14.
- Hall of Famer and Boston Celtics great Bill Russell won a record 11 championships.
- Shaquille O'Neal's teams (the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Miami Heat) are a collective 25-0 in all NBA playoff series when his teams have won the first game of a series.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- NBA Home Page
- Playoff Seeding Criteria NBA.com
- NBA Playoffs InsideHoops.com Coverage
- Basketball-Reference.com Index of NBA Playoffs seasons
