Round One NBA Playoffs
The regular season does matter in the NBA. Even the last game of the regular season matters. Teams were so close in both conferences entering last night’s regular season finales that the outcome of this last game determined who played who in six of the eight first round match-ups.
In the Western Conference, three teams still finished with the second best record. Denver, Portland and San Antonio all finished with 54-28 records.
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Denver and Portland are both in the Northwest Division and Denver wins that tie-breaker by virtue of a better division record. Denver’s was 12-4 while Portland’s was 11-5.
So what is the tie-breaker between Denver and San Antonio?
It is head-to-head competition. Denver won two of the three games with San Antonio.
So Denver gets the two seed, San Antonio the three seed and Portland the fourth seed. For a look at the NBA playoff schedule, click here.
Ironically, Portland beat San Antonio 3-1 in head-to-head games but San Antonio is the higher seed by virtue of winning the Southwest division.
The series I am most interested in for the first round is San Antonio vs. Dallas. The Mavericks have been hot and the Spurs have been up and down late in the season. Should be a lot of great outside shooting in that series.
I also want to see the New Orleans Hornets against Denver. I didn’t get to see either team much in the regular season. Looking forward to seeing Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.
Atlanta vs. Miami should be interesting, too. Will Dwayne Wade go on a scoring binge? Or will the Hawks defense hold him in check?
Two series that might go seven games might be the Hawks-Heat and the Mavs-Spurs. Let the games begin.
