On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31 in the NBA Bubble. This proposal was then approved by members of the National Basketball Players Association on June 5. If the ninth seed within a conference would have finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed, they would have then competed in a play-in series. The last time a play-in game was played to determine a playoff spot was in 1956. On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31 in the NBA Bubble, with 22 of the 30 teams in the league, all clubs within six games of a playoff spot. Under this plan, the 22 teams played eight regular-season "seeding" games.
A possible best-of-three play-in series for the final seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finished the regular season within four games of the eighth seed. The eighth seed would start with a de facto 1–0 lead, meaning that it would need just one win to advance, while the ninth seed would need two. All games were played behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World. At the end of the regular season, the top six teams in each conference clinched a playoff berth. The teams that finished seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth qualified for the play-in tournament, with teams positioned seventh and eighth playing one game, with the winner securing the seventh seed in the playoffs. The Celtics had done the hard work of defeating LeBron's top-seeded Cavs in 2010, and they rolled over the Magic, too, winning the first three games of the series before finishing them off in six.
Pierce , Rasheed Wallace , and Ray Allen all tormented the Magic's Howard-centric defense from 3-point range. In the East, it's hard to look past the Brooklyn Nets as the team to make the conference finals - and potentially win the championship itself. There was no reason at all to expect Denver to beat Seattle in the 1994 playoffs. Not at any point in the regular season, when Seattle was the best team in the NBA—63 actual wins and 64 Pythagorean wins—with Jordan retired. Not when their 1-versus-8 series began, given that no no. 8 seed had ever upset a no. 1 before. And certainly not when the series shifted to Denver after two games, both Seattle victories by double-digit margins.
This list uses a simplified version of the Restart Odds model that does not account for player absences, so some favorites that lost can blame their flip in fortunes on ill-timed injuries. Although they were only the West's no. 4 seed, these Clippers had the underlying numbers of one of the best teams in the league, including the fifth-best net rating across both conferences. They had high hopes for another playoff run after their 2015 collapse against the Rockets and started out strong, winning Game 1 by 20 points and Game 2 by 21.
But Chris Paul broke his hand in the third quarter of Game 4, and Blake Griffin aggravated a previous quad injury; with the Clippers' two biggest stars missing the rest of the series, the Blazers pounced. The same playoff format will still take place that the NBA has always used. 8 teams from each conference will play in the playoffs as follows. All series will be a best of 7 game series where a team that wins 4 games first advance to the next round.
There are 3 rounds that take place against teams in the same conference. The last team standing in each conference plays in the NBA Finals, Conference winner vs Conference winner. The play-in tournament will involve 4 teams from each conference that are seeded from 7 to 10 in the standings.
The 7 and 8 seeds will play one game and the winner will secure the 7th spot in the standings. The loser of the 7th and 8th seed plays the winner of the 9th and 10th seed, the winner of this game will be the number 8th seed. The 9 and 10th seed will have to win two games in order to advance and secure the 8th seed in the conference standings.
As for the play-in tournament, the winner of a game between the teams with the seventh-highest and eighth-highest winning percentages will land the No. 7 seed in the conference. The loser of that game will host the winner of a game between the teams featuring the ninth-highest and 10th-highest winning percentage. The winner of that game will earn the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference.
Also known as the upset that prevented a LeBron vs. Kobe Finals, Orlando's win against the best regular-season team in Cavaliers history still looks surprising on paper. Cleveland won 66 games, with the point differential of a 65-win team, and LeBron James won his first MVP award; the Cavs then swept their first two playoff opponents en route to the conference finals. Orlando, meanwhile, was an accomplished team in its own right , but needed six and seven games to win their first two rounds, respectively. The NBA Board of Governors approved a format for the 2020–21 season to have a play-in tournament involving the teams that ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. The 7th place team and 8th place team participate in the double-chance game, with the winner advancing to the playoffs as the 7-seed.
The loser then plays the winner of elimination game between the 9th place and 10th place teams to determine the playoff's 8-seed. The No. 9 Grizzlies finished within four games of the No. 8 Trail Blazers in the Western Conference standings, triggering a play-in tournament for the final playoff spot. The Trail Blazers defeated the Grizzlies in the play-in game to advance to the first round of the postseason. They will enter the bracket as the No. 8 seed and face the Lakers.
The 9th seed Charlotte Hornets will face the 10th seed Miami Heat. These two teams will have to win 2 games in a row to secure the 8th spot in the standings. The winner of the 9 vs 10 seed advances but plays a second game against the loser of the 7th versus 8th seed. Remember this is a play-in tournament and not the NBA playoffs itself. The winner will be 8th in the standings and play the number one seed Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. So as you can see the 7th or 8th seed only needs to win one game while the 9th and 10th seed need to win 2 games.
The Spurs were the top seed in the West, with five wins in six tries against Houston in the regular season. But as this list demonstrates, Olajuwon enjoyed quite a career of beating Hall of Fame centers in the playoffs. As per the current NBA standings, a total of seven teams have qualified for the playoffs – three in the East and four in the West.
As per the new play-in tournament announced in the league, only the top six teams in each conference will have a confirmed playoff spot. The No. 7 to the No. 10 seed from each conference will be participating in the playoffs. Per conference, the play-in tournament will be played by Seeds 7-10. The loser plays the winner of the game between Seeds 9 and 10 for last remaining playoff spot. The playoff will have the top six teams from each conference advance directly, making it twelve teams with a secured spot at the postseason. The number seven and number eight seeds need to play additional games to reach the postseason via the play-in tournament, while the number nine and number ten seeds will have the opportunity to upset them in the process.
With both teams' stars out with injuries, both the Hawks and Bucks needed contributions from their other players in game 5. In addition to Lopez, 3 other Bucks starters scored at least 20 points. While Atlanta kept the game close, aided by Bogdan Bogdanovic's 28 points, the Bucks took a 3-2 series lead, leaving them one win away from the Eastern Conference championship. To finalize the seventh and eighth playoff spots for each conference, the NBA will host a play-in tournament May that includes teams with the seventh-highest through 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference. At the same time, the teams with the ninth- and 10th-best records will play a game, with the winner of that contest then meeting the loser of the "seven-eight" game for the right to become the No. 8 seed in the playoffs.
Intriguing differences in the playoff structure hold that the teams with the seventh-best and eighth-best records in each conference will play one game, with the winner becoming the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The Lakers and Spurs met in every postseason from 2001 through 2004, with the winner eventually making the Finals. The Lakers won in 2001 and 2002, the Spurs in 2003, and the 2004 series was the closest of them all. Once again, the Spurs were a much better regular-season team , but once again, the Lakers completed the upset. The teams split the first four games, each winning two at home, and the turning point came in an ugly Game 5. With the Spurs leading 71-70, Bryant made a jumper with 12 ticks remaining, only for Tim Duncan to respond by hitting an 18-foot fadeaway with O'Neal draped all over him, with just four-tenths of a second left.
In the second round or conference semifinals, the team that wins the 1-8 matchup plays the winner of the 4-5 series. The 2-7 winner faces the 3-6 and the two teams that win will play each other for the conference championship. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeded teams will play each other, the losing team getting a chance to play once again for a playoff spot. The ninth and tenth seed will play each other, where the losing team will be eliminated. The winner will get one more chance at the postseason, competing against the team that lost the other clash.
The play-in tournament starts two days later on Tuesday, April 12 and concludes Friday, April 15. All first games of the 8 first round matchups will be played either April 16 or 17. So we have the 7th seed, San Antonio Spurs versus the 8th seed, LA Clippers playing for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. They will only play one game and the winner secures the 7th seed and will face off against the 2nd place team in the Western Conference. Let's say the Spurs won they would secure the 7th seed and play the Nuggets in the first round. The Clippers are not out just yet, they will play a second game to try and secure their original seed of 8th place.
There are 15 teams in each conference, the reason the NBA chose seeds 7 to 10 for their play-in tournament is that there are only a few games separating those positions by a few wins. The NBA presented this format during the season restart, the Portland Trail Blazers beating out the Memphis Grizzlies for the final postseason seed in the West. Only the Western Conference used the tournament in the bubble since the final two seeds had less than a five-game lead following the eight-game restart. Ten teams in each conference will advance to the postseason, with teams seeded seventh through 10th participating in a play-in tournament to gain admission to the conference playoffs.
The Spurs were easily the league's best regular-season team in 2001, with a Pythagorean record six wins clear of anyone else. After sweeping the Trail Blazers and the Kings in the first two rounds, they did the same to the Spurs, with O'Neal and Kobe Bryant combining for 60 points per game. Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles were particularly humiliating, with the Lakers winning by 39 and 29 points, respectively.
"Custer has no idea," Gregg Popovich said after the series, evidently inviting reporters to compare the Spurs' loss to another resounding defeat. The Heat were led by former Knicks coach Pat Riley, who'd left New York for Miami via fax in 1995. The two teams had met in both the 1997 and 1998 playoffs, both series going the distance, both involving memorable brawls.
Their leading scorer in the series was Latrell Sprewell, who came off the bench every game, and was playing in his first season after a 68-game suspension accrued for choking coach P.J. And the upset ended with an Allan Houston game-winner in Game 5 in Miami—a leaner in a one-point game that bounced off the rim, kissed off the glass, then dropped through the net. The system allows the ten top teams in the Eastern and Western Conference standings to play their chances for a spot in the playoffs, making the end of the regular season more exciting. The winners of each of the conference championships then face each other in the NBA Finals. This year, the NBA Finals are scheduled to begin on June 2 to June 19, 2022. The home-court advantage in the NBA Finals goes to the team that recorded the most regular-season wins.
The first two games are at the higher-seeded team's home court and Games 3 and 4 are at the lower-seeded team's home court. A deciding Game 7 will always be played at the home of the higher seed. The history of rematches to determine a college football national champion It's not often teams that played during the regular season get back on the field again with national championship implications. Now, though, with the condensed 72-game season and the new play-in tournament format, teams that finish ranked No. 7 through No. 10 will contend for the final two spots in the postseason for each conference. Game 7 would go on to be an instant classic with both teams locked in for the entire game. In the final seconds of regulation, Kevin Durant appeared to have given the Nets a 1-point lead on a fadeaway three-point shot with 1 second left.
With the score tied at 109, Milwaukee had a chance to win the series, but Giannis Antetokounmpo's turnaround jumpshot missed, sending the game into overtime. The Nets held a two-point lead until the final 90 seconds of overtime where the Bucks would score on back-to-back possessions to get on the board and take a 113–111 lead with 40 seconds remaining. The Nets had possession in the last 15 seconds of the game, concluding with yet another game-tying, almost-three-point jump shot attempt by Durant; however, it was all air. The Bucks subsequently sealed the game on two free throws by Brook Lopez , sending them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three years. It was also the Bucks' first victory on the road in a postseason game seven, having gone 0–7 in previous playoff road game seven's.
Devin Booker joined Rick Barry as the only players to record at least ten 30 point games in their first postseason all time. It came down to a late two-point conversion stop and a stressful onside kick recovery, but the Cleveland Browns are in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, ending the league's longest active postseason drought. They will now play the Steelers again next week in the wild-card round. "Home-court advantage isn't that important," coach George Karl said after the loss. "It's nice to have in your back pocket, but playoffs generally are won by winning on the road. Now, we have to do that." Except they didn't do that, just as they hadn't done that against Denver the previous postseason.
Stan Van Gundy's one-in, four-out offense hummed; Dwight Howard averaged a double-double, while the team shot 41 percent from 3, with Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Mickael Pietrus, and Rafer Alston all catching fire. The Magic clinched the series at home in Game 6, thanks to a tour de force from Howard. It was the only game all series in which LeBron didn't lead all players in points.
The league had already tested a version of the play-in format last summer with the 2020 NBA restart in the Orlando bubble. At the time, the Portland Trail Blazers played the Memphis Grizzlies to earn a berth in the Western Conference playoffs. For the first time in league history, the 2021 NBA playoff field was finalised following a play-in tournament to determine the seventh and eighth seeds in the Eastern and Western conferences. After an unprecedented 72-game regular season and historic play-in tournament, we now know the eight basketball teams that will be battling it out to claim the Larry O'Brien trophy in July.
Atlanta became only the third team since the current playoff format was introduced in 1984 to make the conference finals, despite having a losing record at the All-Star break—the Hawks were in February. Four teams are left in the NBA playoffs and the picture for the conference finals is now set. After beating Memphis on the final day of the regular season for the eighth seed in the play-in, the Warriors will host the Grizzlies yet again, this time on Friday to determine the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. The 16 team's playoffs have followed the same format since 2016 with the top eight teams in each conference advancing to the postseason.
Here's a guide that helps you to know how NBA Playoffs formate does work. The 2022 NBA Playoff bracket is now fully set, postseason games set to begin from Saturday, April 16 until the NBA finals game 7 on Sunday, June 19. The Eastern Conference winner No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks win in the NBA Finals 2021 against the Western Conference winner No. 2 Phoenix Suns. With their late victory against the Warriors, the team from Tennessee take eighth spot in the Western Conference and will face the Utah Jazz in the first round, who ere the best team of the regular season.
The winner of that matchup will face the winner of the game between the Clippers and the Mavericks. The NBA regular season is coming to an end this May, and the playoffs will soon begin. This year the league will have the Play-In Tournament, significantly expanding the number of teams that could make it to the playoffs after the regular season ends to twenty. The way the conference finals are shaking out, we could get our first team into the NBA Finals on Monday night with the Phoenix Suns looking to close out the Los Angeles Clippers at home up 3-1 in the West Finals. The East may take a bit but the Milwaukee Bucks could have a shot at closing out the series as soon as Thursday in Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks went up 2-1 in the series after a convincing win in Game 3 on Sunday night.
We're going to be keeping track of which teams will be fighting for the Larry O'Brien Trophy in July. Devin Booker joined Charles Barkley and LeBron James as the only players with 40-point triple-double in a conference finals game. He also joined Oscar Robertson and Luka Dončić as the only players with a 40-point triple-double before turning 25. ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV broadcast the playoffs nationally in the United States. During the first two rounds, games were split between TNT, ESPN, and ABC regardless of conference. Regional sports networks affiliated with the teams also broadcast the games, except for games televised on ABC.
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