Speed

NBA.com and CBS Sportsline as well as many TV stations are reporting that the Pacers have won the #3 seed and will be facing the Celtics first round.

But the tiebreaker (div record) CLEARLY goes to the Sixers by percentage points!

The SIXERS are the third seed.

This is a huge disaster. I'm right, aren't I? What the hell is going on?

How embarrassing for NBA.com!

Go Blazers

Gym Rat

Shouldn't this be about Head to Head records first? It is a two-team tie, correct? Or did they split the series?

__________________
"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

- John Wooden

Speed

Split series

Same Conf Record

HEre's the problem

DIvision record

Sixers 16-7
Pacers 19-9

Several idiots think that 19-9 is better than 16-7
but it's not

Go Blazers

Ed O

Um. No.

The 76ers are in the Atlantic. The Pacers are in the Central.

Division record is only a tiebreaker for divisional rivals. The next tiebreakers are:

4. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference
5. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in opposite conference
6. Higher point differential between points scored and points allowed

Presumably someone's done the figuring and the 76ers are ahead in one of these areas.

(Gym Rat: the two teams split 2-2, and they ended with an equal 35-19 conference record.)

Ed O.

Gym Rat

Split Season Series
Same Conference Record
Division Records Indiana 19-9 - Philly, 17-7

__________________
"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

- John Wooden

Gym Rat

You didn't add in the Philly win tonight.

Seeding Tiebreakers from ESPN.com

The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The division winner with the best record in each conference is seeded No. 1, the other division winner is seeded No. 2 and the remaining six teams are seeded Nos. 3 - 8 according to their won-lost records. (Home-court advantage in all playoff series is determined by better won-lost record, not higher seeding.)
In the event two or more teams are tied in the standings, a series of tiebreakers are applied to determine which team receives the higher seeding.

Two-Team Tiebreaker
1. Better record in head-to-head games
2. Higher winning percentage in conference games
3. Higher winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division)
4. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference
5. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in opposite conference
6. Higher point differential between points scored and points allowed

Three-Team Tiebreaker
1. Best head-to-head winning percentage among all teams tied
2. Highest winning percentage in conference games
3. Highest winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division)
4. Highest winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference
5. Highest point differential between points scored and points allowed

__________________
"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

- John Wooden

Blazer Ringbearer

Like Ed said, division record doesn't mean squat... they're not in the same division...

It comes down to their record with playoff squads in their conference. If anyone wants to take a half hour to figure all that out, be my guest...

Gym Rat

Not me, thank you very much. I will just trust the league and cbssportsline and espn.

__________________
"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."

- John Wooden

Speed

Thanks. So division doesn't matter. DIdn't catch that. Well, ESPN.com still has the Sixers in third while others have the pacers. WHo is it?

GO blazers

Blazer Ringbearer

Well it's funny, because when I was watching the ESPN broadcast, they made it sound like if Indiana won, they clinched the spot. And then their website disagrees.

I'm hardpressed to disbelieve the espn website, since they have all of the tiebreaker situations displayed on the same page. One would think that they'd be factored into their algorithm. But someone made a mistake...

It'll be interesting to see who it was...

Cheers

Ed O

Well, WHATEVER the tiebreaker was, Indy won it; they're listed as the 3 seed by the NBA in their schedule so I guess Speed was KINDA right after all.



Ed O.