In April, 8 NBA teams from each conference qualify to play in the championship playoffs. The top three teams based on their regular season record are chosen for the top three seeds based on the NBA seeding system. The next five teams with the best records take the other five seeds. The one difference of the NBA seeding system from any other American major league sport is the fact that the division championships are not guaranteed home court advantage in the playoffs. Rather, home court advantage is based on the team's regular season record and not on who won in the division. In the NBA seeding system, the team given the first seed will face off against the team given the eight seed; the second seed will face off against the seventh seed and so forth. Therefore, the highest advantage a team can get is to have a high seed so they can face a weaker team. The team with the best regular season record is given the home court advantage. Once the playoffs begin, they follow a tournament format. The team's face each other is a best of seven series. The first team to win four rounds gets to advance into the next round. Teams are not reseeded once the playoffs begin therefore the first or eight seed team who wins will face off with the fourth or fifth seed team that wins. The second and seventh winner will face off against the third and sixth winner, therefore keeping the balance between the teams. The final playoff round is between the top teams in each conference in another best of seven series of games. The NBA finals are typically held in June. Most of the time, but not always, the Most Valuable Player Award will go to someone on the winning team. The exception to this was in 1969 when Jerry West won the MVP award even though his team did not win the NBA Finals. |
