Explain something to me..

UNT96 · April 17, 2003

Ok, according to the ESN playoff tracker the Mavs are going to be a 3 seed playing the Lakers, this is with the updated info frojm tonight's win against the Spurs. The Kings are listed as the #2.

Here is my confusion. The Kings, at best, can end the season at 59-23 and that is if they win tonight against Utah. The Mavs have finished at 60-22. Now I know that the Kings own the tie breaker if there is a tie but it is mathematically impossible to tie them. So why are we not the #2 seed playing Utah instead of the Kings?

UNTFan23 · April 17, 2003

I think the Kings have a head-to-head advantage over the Mavs.

You know, like how we got to go to a bowl game 2 years ago cause we beat the MUTS.

TheColonyEagle · April 17, 2003

The NBA does its seeding for the #1 and #2 seeds based on Division Champs. San Antonio had the best record and won the Midwest and Sacramento won the Pacific, so they are the #1 and #2 seeds respectively. Although Dallas has a better record than Sacramento, Sacramento won their division, so they get seeded higher.

Home court advantage, however, is based on record. If Dallas wins its first round series and Sacramento wins its first round, Dallas will play Sacramento and have homecourt advantage despite being the lower seed. Then, the Mavs' better record is taken into consideration.

I don't know if I helped or just confused things more.

I officially have tired head now.

IronMan4 · April 17, 2003

The division champs get the 1 and 2 seeds, which just means they will be on opposite sides of the bracket and their opponent is matched up accordingly. Each individual series home court looks at the record.

I think they do this to put more of a reward for winning a division by putting the two winners on opposite sides and getting the easier first round matchups. At least it's not as confusing as baseball's playoff seeding formula.