Nick Piccone
Yesterday, the NBA announced it was changing the seeding rules for the playoffs, as no longer will a division leader be guaranteed one of the top three seeds be merely being in first place. The NBA Board of Governors approved a plan that will seed teams based on record alone.
As part of the modifications, the eight playoff teams in each conference will be seeded in order of their regular-season record. Most recently, every division winner was guaranteed a top four seed in its respective conference regardless of its record but did not receive home-court advantage if its playoff opponent had a better record.
The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head matchups, and the second tiebreaker will go to the team that is the division winner. This might not bode well for the Sixers in the short-term, but this type of seeding is long overdue.
The NFL should adopt similar playoff seeding rules and not automatically give a division winner one of the top four seeds, as that would eliminate the possibility of having a 7-8-1 Panthers team or a 7-9 Seahawks team host a home playoff game. Official statement from the NBA’s Board of Governors below, via The Big Lead.
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