The NBA should adopt the NFL playoff system imo

[Mr. Jack Napier]

I still think it's funny how Luka and Kyrie sat out to avoid making the Play-In last year

Kyrie straight up sat out while Luka only played one quarter and was probably giving bad intel to the team to avoid having to play more basketball.

That wasn't why. The Mavs were trying to keep their draft pick.

 

[IIVI]

That wasn't why. The Mavs were trying to keep their draft pick.

That kind of reflects the point though: a team would rather keep a draft pick than go for thee Championship they worked hard to get the entire season.

I'm pretty sure in many regards the team/players knew they had no shot at winning and they'd be right. I don't know the full numbers, haven't worked out the Math, but they they probably got something like a 0.000001% chance of winning.

You compare that to the NFL though and the mentality is "Just make the Play-offs and go from there" because the lowest seeds have a great chance at winning the whole thing. It's only when teams are eliminated from the play-offs do they think of tanking for the draft.

 

[Ohene]

7th seeds and 8 seeds in the playoffs

shyt 5th and 6th seeds in the playoffs

But hey they wanted more content to sell as far back as 40 years ago so here we are

nah 5th and 6th seeds shake shyt up every now and then
plus a team may be top 2 seed caliber but suffer from a huge injury intraseason

 

[Ohene]

The main "problem" is the 7-game format at every level because it makes it too predictable.

A top 3 seed wins the NBA Championship literally 98% of the time (check the stats).
The only two times a 4th and 6th seed won are the Bill Russell Celtics who were still the best team of the decade and Olajuwon's Rockets.

There are just way too many things that have to go right for a 4-10 seed to win the championship, especially today.

its impossible

unfortunately capitalism is king. they not taking out the 7 game series

a 3-game series would be amazing to be honest. i'm sure march madness and the NFL have no problem profiting.

 

[Apprentice]

The regular season doesn't matter


Nobody in the west is beating Denver in a series 4 times where they have home court advantage.

Denver went 16-4 last year, two of the defeats only happened because Devin Booker was shooting at 80%

82 games of meaningless basketball huh?

NBA fans lmfao

 

[Apprentice]

NBA Regular season =/= playoffs
Nuggets went into cruise control for like 2 months to end the season last year and then locked in for the playoffs and went 16-4 en route to a title
They're not losing to some mediocre Kings in a playoff series

Nuggets ain’t going back to back

NBA fans openly shyt on the regular season product to the point the games played don’t matter lol

Sport is cooked

 

[KateFabersBoyfriend]

Yup
does anyone really want to the celtics vs the magic/bulls/hawks?

Celtics vs hawks or magic could be competitive. But I'm kind skeptical of them.

Fewer games adds more weight to remaining games.

 

[mastermind]

Go back to 5 games in the 1st round

Go back to best of three first rounds


The NBA used to do this in the 70s and 80s, but ended it when Magic and Bird became prime time.

 

[FTBS]

nah 5th and 6th seeds shake shyt up every now and then
plus a team may be top 2 seed caliber but suffer from a huge injury intraseason

Injuries are part of the game. nikkas get hurt in the playoffs too.

Shaking shyt up on occasion doesnt warrant you being there every year. We have 8 seeds shake shyt up every so often but we all know they have no business being there. And if you look at a lot of these teams "shaking it up" they are often squads that had injuries in the season (again...that's life) or didn't really take the regular season seriously. Bron has taken like 2 regular seasons seriously in the last decade. Playoff Jimmy is all about Jimmy being about the regular season. Kawhi magically playing back to backs and only missing a hand full of games when they institute the 65 game rule. You make it top 4 seeds we are gonna be getting the best out of our stars all season. Not just because they gotta make the top 4 but also because they dont have a two month playoff marathon to worry about and conserve energy for.

 

[Po pimp]

Didn’t read through this entire thread, but an 8th seed made the Finals last year. Anything is possible. Why get rid of that? Besides, the NBA will never make it be less games.

 

[concise]

Didn’t read through this entire thread, but an 8th seed made the Finals last year. Anything is possible. Why get rid of that? Besides, the NBA will never make it be less games.

8th seed making it doesn't mean much.



There have been 77 Finals played.
Number 1 seeds make it to the Finals 80.5 percent of the time.

Summary of Champions and Finals by Seed​

Seed	Champions	Lost Finals	Winning %	Finalists	Finals Made
1st	51	38	.573	89	62
2nd	16	23	.410	39	34
3rd	8	8	.500	16	16
4th	1	4	.200	5	5
5th	0	1	.000	1	1
6th	1	1	.500	2	2
7th	0	0	-	0	0
8th	0	2	.000	2	2

 

[Juggalo Fred]

Nuggets ain’t going back to back

NBA fans openly shyt on the regular season product to the point the games played don’t matter lol

Sport is cooked

Only teams that are a threat to the Nuggets are the Clip-Show and the Celtics.

 

[thelonious21]

The reason why I want first seed teams to get a bye to the 2nd round and 8th seeds being banned from making the playoffs is because the #1 vs #8 series are essentially predictable formalities. The first place/top seeded team will always win because they are much talented and much better than the 8th seeded team who barely qualified for the postseason. And the series are never close. The only close and competitive « 1vs 8 » in the last 25 years were last year’s upset (Miami over Milwaukee in 5, bulls/Celtics going 7 back in 2009, The « we believe » warriors upset over the top seed mavs in 2007 and finally the 1999 Knicks beating the 1st seed Miami Heat) all these teams were fake 8th seeds disguised.

So The only exceptions to the rule :



the quiet, forgotten, criminally underrated darkhorse/stronger than advertised squad teams that lowkey grab the 8th spot and upset the usually paper tiger fake 1st seeds Shocking upset to most but those who paid attention to these 8th seed teams knew they would be a threat to paper Tiger contenders.

The lower seed teams that made important additions at the deadline and became much more stronger than before and much more different from earlier in the season. The « before vs after » contrast effect.

The veteran laden teams with superstar talent and winning/championship experience and pedigree who coasted during the regular season, paced themselves to save their energy for the postseason, played just well enough to make the postseason. But as soon as the playoffs started, they completely flipped the switch

No 8th seed in NBA history ever won a playoff series against a top seed based on momentum or luck.

Has the number 1 seed won 100% of the time?

Does the Underdog lose 100% of the time?

Nothing is ever even 50/50 in any competition.

By your logic competition is meaningless because the 1 is the 1 and the 8 is the 8 so why play

 

[bl2k8]

its impossible

unfortunately capitalism is king. they not taking out the 7 game series

a 3-game series would be amazing to be honest. i'm sure march madness and the NFL have no problem profiting.

Idk why NFL fans like seeing teams that aren’t the best of the best win championships. That’s what makes 7 game series great, why play 82 games and then have an injury or some fluky shyt determine a 3 game series

 

[Soldier]

Has the number 1 seed won 100% of the time?

Does the Underdog lose 100% of the time?

Nothing is ever even 50/50 in any competition.

By your logic competition is meaningless because the 1 is the 1 and the 8 is the 8 so why play

Logic is always respected during the nba playoffs , the vast majority of the time, there is a reason why the 1st seeds are 1st seeds and why the 8th seeds are 8th seeds. 1st seeds are much more superior and much more talented teams and the superior teams win almost every time, so yes competition between a #1 seed and a 8th seed is meaningless when it’s that stale and predictable. It’s a mere formality at this point. You can’t bet against the overwhelming odds/probabilities of inferior teams losing to superior teams. Almost every time, the 1st seeds win with ease or with difficulty their opening series against their weaker 8th opponents.


Since the NBA expanded its postseason to 16 teams in the 1983-1984 season, only 6 8th seeded teams pulled upsets in the 1st round over first place teams.

6 upsets in 40 seasons. Let’s do basic math. Since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1983-1984, 2 « #1 vs #8 series » have been played every year. One in each conference.

2 eastern and western « #1 vs #8 series » X 40 seasons = 80 times a 8th seed played a 1st seed in the playoffs since 1983-84.

So in total, 80 « #1 vs #8 series » have been played since the 1984 playoffs.

So 2 « 1vs8 matchups » every year in both conferences for 40 years. Means 80 « 1vs8» playoff matchups since 1984.


So out of 80 « #1 vs#8 » first round series only 6 upsets happened. Only 6 8th seeded teams pulled upsets over their 1st seed opponents. It means that 8th seed teams have historically a 7.5% success rate. 8th seeded teams only won 6 of the 80 first round series played since 1984. So it means that 92.5% of the time(74 series out of 80 first round 1vs8 series, 74/80 = 92.5% success rate) the first seeds actually win their series and advance to the 2nd round. 74 series out of 80. 92.5% of these series . The statistics, history, probabilities, odds, huge talent gap overwhelmingly favor the 1st seeds without a doubt.

In the NBA, Upsets are exceptionally rare in the 1 vs 8 playoff matchups. It Only happened 6 times since 1984.

1994 nuggets won 3-2 over SuperSonics
1999 knicks won 3-2 over Heat
2007 warriors won 4-2 over mavericks
2011 grizzlies won 4-2 over spurs
2012 Sixers won 4-2 over bulls
2023 Heat won 4-1 over bucks


So Between 1984 and 2023: only 6 upsets happened

Thats it folks

Get rid of that useless first 1vs8 matchup and let’s give a automatic bye to each top seed of their conference.

NBA playoffs: Complete history of 8 seeds upsetting 1 seeds as Heat, Jimmy Butler try to join exclusive club

www.cbssports.com