As expected, the NBA has at last come to its senses when it comes to postseason seeding, getting rid of the head-scratching advantages division winners had enjoyed for eons.
Starting in 2015-16, it was announced Tuesday night, teams will be seeded by the regular season records.
These changes were approved unanimously.
From the press release:
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 Board also approved changes to tiebreak criteria for playoff seeding and home-court advantage. Head-to-head results have become the first criterion to break ties for playoff seeding and home-court advantage between two teams with identical regular-season records; the second criterion is whether a team won its division. Under the old tiebreak system, a division winner was awarded the higher seed and received home-court advantage in a series if the two teams met in the playoffs.
The NBA’s Competition Committee unanimously recommended each of these changes prior to the Board of Governors vote.
