NBA officially approves changes to playoff seeding
The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved changes to playoff seeding and qualification procedures effective this coming season, the league announced Tuesday.
Playoff teams will now be seeded by record, regardless of divisional rank.
The move, which has been expected all summer, reduces the value of winning a division to little more than a banner-raising ceremony and bragging rights. Under the new rules, division-winning teams won't be guaranteed a top-four seed in the conference playoffs, as they've been since 2006.
In addition, the league altered its tiebreaker rules: head-to-head results will become the first criterion in playoff seeding and in home-court advantage between teams with identical regular-season records. The second criterion will be whether the team won its division.
For reference, here's how last season's Western Conference playoff picture would've shaped out under the new rules:
| Seed | East - No Change | West - Old Format | West - New Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta | Golden State | Golden State |
| 2 | Cleveland | Houston | Houston |
| 3 | Chicago | L.A. Clippers | L.A. Clippers |
| 4 | Toronto | Portland | Memphis |
| 5 | Washington | Memphis | San Antonio |
| 6 | Milwaukee | San Antonio | Portland |
| 7 | Boston | Dallas | Dallas |
| 8 | Brooklyn | New Orleans | New Orleans |
The Eastern Conference would've remained unchanged.