Under current NBA rules, division winners are guaranteed a top-four seed in the playoffs.
That's precisely why the Memphis Grizzlies (55-27) and 2014 league champion San Antonio Spurs (55-27) were seeded fifth and sixth, respectively, despite finishing with better records than the Northwest division champion and No. 4 Portland Trail Blazers (51-31).
Now, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has criticized the power that the league gives to division winners and is pondering whether to change that rule or not for postseasons moving forward. Well, Commissioner Silver — we've taken the liberty of forecasting the playoff season into our own hands.
Here's how these current NBA playoffs would have looked if it was strictly based on the best win-loss records without division winners getting any seeding privileges.
Eastern Conference
(1) Atlanta Hawks (60-22) vs. (8) Brooklyn Nets (38-44)
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers (53-29) vs. (7) Boston Celtics (40-42)
(3) Chicago Bulls (50-32) vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks (41-41)
(4) Toronto Raptors (49-33) vs. (5) Washington Wizards (46-36)
Western Conference
(1) Golden State Warriors (67-15) vs. (8) New Orleans Pelicans (45-37)
(2) Los Angeles Clippers (56-26) vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks (50-32)
(3) Houston Rockets (56-26) vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers (51-31)
(4) Memphis Grizzlies (55-27) vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs (55-27)
If the NBA went by best win-loss records without giving any precedence to division winners, the Eastern Conference playoff picture would remain exactly the same. And we couldn't see any team but LeBron James's Cavaliers being in the NBA Finals, the way they currently are now.
But the Western Conference playoff picture would dramatically change ... as in three of the opening four first-round matchups being different. We would like the Clippers to get by the Mavericks and the Rockets to blast the Trail Blazers, but we would see the Spurs edging the Grizzlies in seven games. If that were to happen, it would set up a Western Conference semifinals between Golden State and San Antonio.
Would the Spurs have given the Warriors problems in that second round? Absolutely. Could they have defeated them? Yes. That would have set up a Spurs vs. Clippers/Rockets Conference Finals. Very interesting. The Spurs making it back to the Finals would have had them up against King James for the third year in a row.
We love the current NBA Finals' matchup between the Warriors and Cavaliers ... but it could have gone very differently. Seedings should be done in order of best records, period.
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