Is every division guaranteed a spot in the playoffs? The reason I ask is looking at the Northwest, there's a real chance that none of them make it. Utah, Denver, and Minnesota are all on the outside looking in. OKC may dig themselves too deep a hole while Durant and Westbrook are out. If Portland has any injuries to their starting lineup, they could fall out of the playoff picture. It's entirely possible that all of the following have better records than any team from the NE: Houston Dallas San Antonio New Orleans Memphis Golden State LA Clippers Phoenix Sacramento
You are correct. Regarding reworking divisions... I'd be OK with dumping them altogether. Just tale the top 8 teams from each conference. Or, even better: get rid of conferences, cut down the number of games, and just take the top 16 NBA teams into the playoffs.
Portland is leading that division right now with a 33% winning percentage, 'good enough' for the 4th seed... Although that will probably change until the playoffs start, that system has to be fixed. There shouldnt even be a chance of a team witha wors e record than 9 other teams in that conference having come court advantage.
not only is a division winner guaranteed a playoff spot, they are guaranteed home court advantage. (unless they are the 4th seed and the 5th seed team has a better record)
The division system sucks and is probably not fair. Look at the SW division. You have possible 5 playoff teams going against each other 4 times each while you look at other divisions and there are at least 2 to 3 teams that are possibly lottery bound.
2006 playoffs is the reason for this, though they did give the Clippers home court. 1. San Antonio Spurs (63-19) (clinched Southwest division) 2. Phoenix Suns (54-28) (clinched Pacific division) 3. Denver Nuggets (44-38) (clinched Northwest division) 4. Dallas Mavericks (60-22) 5. Memphis Grizzlies (49-33) 6. Los Angeles Clippers (47-35) 7. Los Angeles Lakers (45-37) 8. Sacramento Kings (44-38) Doesn't matter who is in your division--you play the other four teams in your division four times. You play six teams outside your division four times.
I moved to Portland a couple of months ago. Local radio dudes have already penciled the Blazers in 4 and are talking about home court. They're probably not wrong. A tangent: what's the deal with teams in the Pacific NW telling you what awesome fans they are? Blazer fans sound like (barf) Seahawks fans when they talk about being an "X factor" in the playoffs because they're sooooo loud.
