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NBA Playoff Schedule, Standings, Brackets, Rules
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Published: January 26, 2007
NBA Playoffs. Admittedly, unless the local team is incredibly star studded or dominating, it is hard to stay excited for all 82 games on the schedule. But when it comes to the glitz and glamor of an NBA Playoff game, it's hard for any basketball fan not to be excited.
The NBA playoffs are a tournament in which 16 teams (eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference) square off in single elimination rounds to determine the winner of the NBA title.
The eight teams from each conference are selected first from the winners of the six divisions and then the 10 non-division winners with the best records.
The NBA playoffs are laid out in a progression of four seven game series. The teams are seeded with the teams leading their division standings receiving preference, and the top seed facing the bottom seed, the two seed facing the seventh, and so on. In a recent change of the rules, whichever team has the best record in the final standings, not seed, receives home court advantage. The team with home court advantage plays four games at home, while their opponents only get three.
The impetus for the change in rules to this year's NBA Playoff schedule was due to an allegation from last season. Allegedly, the Los Angeles Clippers attempted to lose the last game in order to end with a lower total in the standings, thereby earning a lower seed and avoid having to beat both the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs in consecutive away series. The Clippers went on to defeat the over matched Denver Nuggets, while the Memphis Grizzlies, who played in the spot L.A. would have had, were swept by the Mavericks in four straight games.
This is not the first time, however, that the rules and schedule for the NBA Playoffs has changed. Since the league's inception in 1949, NBA Playoff series have grown from two rounds of three games a piece with seven games only in the finals to four rounds of seven games a piece for the whole playoffs. Of course, the league itself has grown from eight teams in 1954 to 30 today.
The NBA Playoff television coverage this year is split between ABC, TNT and ESPN. ESPN owns the broadcast rights to the Eastern Conference Finals, TNT the Western Conference, and ABC the NBA Finals. Still, all the networks provide a great deal of coverage of the NBA playoffs, so if a fan misses a broadcast on any of these networks, it will not be hard to catch highlights of the action. Additionally, for the crazed basketball fan NBAtv, the league's television network, promises 24 hour coverage of the events leading up to the awarding of the NBA Championship.
For those wanting a more personal experience, tickets for an NBA Playoff game can be pricey. Some of the earlier rounds may be somewhat more sparsely attended; however, Finals tickets can run into hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Casual fans of a particular franchise are particularly out of luck, because fans with season tickets get priority on buying blocks of tickets for the NBA Playoff, and what seats they don't buy are often quickly scooped up by scalpers. Keeping in touch with a team's box office in the weeks leading up to the NBA Playoff, however, will probably net some decent tickets for an early round game at face value.
An NBA Playoff game is one of the most unique and dynamic experiences in sports. Plus, the recent changes in rules to increase parity in the Playoffs ensure that this will be an interesting year to watch. For those hoping to soak in the experience of Game Seven of the Finals, tickets will be hard and expensive to come by, but it just might be worth it for the avid basketball fan.
Sources:
NBA Tickets. NBA.com. 2007. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. 23 Jan. 2007 < http://www.nba.com/tickets/tickets.html>.
NBA Playoffs. Wikipedia. 18 Jan. 2007. 23 Jan. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Playoffs>.
Sports Broadcasting. Wikipedia. 22 Jan. 2007. 23 Jan. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_broadcasti ng>.
NBA Playoffs. Inside Hoops. 20 June 2006. 23 Jan. 2007 <http://www.insidehoops.com/playoffs.sh>
The NBA playoffs are a tournament in which 16 teams (eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western Conference) square off in single elimination rounds to determine the winner of the NBA title.
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The NBA playoffs are laid out in a progression of four seven game series. The teams are seeded with the teams leading their division standings receiving preference, and the top seed facing the bottom seed, the two seed facing the seventh, and so on. In a recent change of the rules, whichever team has the best record in the final standings, not seed, receives home court advantage. The team with home court advantage plays four games at home, while their opponents only get three.
The impetus for the change in rules to this year's NBA Playoff schedule was due to an allegation from last season. Allegedly, the Los Angeles Clippers attempted to lose the last game in order to end with a lower total in the standings, thereby earning a lower seed and avoid having to beat both the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs in consecutive away series. The Clippers went on to defeat the over matched Denver Nuggets, while the Memphis Grizzlies, who played in the spot L.A. would have had, were swept by the Mavericks in four straight games.
This is not the first time, however, that the rules and schedule for the NBA Playoffs has changed. Since the league's inception in 1949, NBA Playoff series have grown from two rounds of three games a piece with seven games only in the finals to four rounds of seven games a piece for the whole playoffs. Of course, the league itself has grown from eight teams in 1954 to 30 today.
The NBA Playoff television coverage this year is split between ABC, TNT and ESPN. ESPN owns the broadcast rights to the Eastern Conference Finals, TNT the Western Conference, and ABC the NBA Finals. Still, all the networks provide a great deal of coverage of the NBA playoffs, so if a fan misses a broadcast on any of these networks, it will not be hard to catch highlights of the action. Additionally, for the crazed basketball fan NBAtv, the league's television network, promises 24 hour coverage of the events leading up to the awarding of the NBA Championship.
For those wanting a more personal experience, tickets for an NBA Playoff game can be pricey. Some of the earlier rounds may be somewhat more sparsely attended; however, Finals tickets can run into hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Casual fans of a particular franchise are particularly out of luck, because fans with season tickets get priority on buying blocks of tickets for the NBA Playoff, and what seats they don't buy are often quickly scooped up by scalpers. Keeping in touch with a team's box office in the weeks leading up to the NBA Playoff, however, will probably net some decent tickets for an early round game at face value.
An NBA Playoff game is one of the most unique and dynamic experiences in sports. Plus, the recent changes in rules to increase parity in the Playoffs ensure that this will be an interesting year to watch. For those hoping to soak in the experience of Game Seven of the Finals, tickets will be hard and expensive to come by, but it just might be worth it for the avid basketball fan.
Sources:
NBA Tickets. NBA.com. 2007. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. 23 Jan. 2007 < http://www.nba.com/tickets/tickets.html>.
NBA Playoffs. Wikipedia. 18 Jan. 2007. 23 Jan. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Playoffs>.
Sports Broadcasting. Wikipedia. 22 Jan. 2007. 23 Jan. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_broadcasti ng>.
NBA Playoffs. Inside Hoops. 20 June 2006. 23 Jan. 2007 <http://www.insidehoops.com/playoffs.sh>
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