The NBA Playoffs
- Alex
It's bad enough that the first round of the NBA playoffs takes five weeks to complete, but have you
heard the latest ridiculous playoff news? I'm betting you haven't, so read on my friends.
The game on Tuesday night between the Clippers and Grizzlies was a game
for crappy mid-level seeding in the Western Conference. The winner would be 5th seed, and the loser would be 6th seed. Shouldn't be any big deal, except for two
things:
1. Because the NBA rewards division winners, the 3rd seed is actually a weaker team (Denver Nuggets) than the 4th seed (Dallas Mavericks). That on its own
probably wouldn't be any big reason to throw a game, but hold on because. . .
2. Because the NBA is mind-bogglingly stupid, it rewards home-court advantage based on record instead of seed. So not only would the 6th seed team
play a weaker opponent, but they'd also get an extra home game in the series (and believe me, home playoff money is not insubstantial).
Naturally, both teams played their scrubs the entire game, and the Grizzlies won, which is to say the Grizzlies lost. That NBA action, it sure is fantastic.
First of all, why does the NBA even care who wins the divisions? It's not like there's a huge tradition of division races in NBA history. (You could argue that
the only place it's hanging on at all anymore is in baseball.) However, if you're going to reward a divison winner, fine. Then you must award home-court
advantage based on seed, and just re-seed each round of the playoffs as needed. I'm not even a professional administrator and I can see how that works.
Not that any of this matters, since we're sure to be treated to another grind-it-out, games-in-the-60s Finals bore-fest anyway. The NBA should take a page
from the NHL and really enforce the grabbing/fouling and let the game open back up again. Speaking of, the NHL finals start Friday. That's what I'll be watching.
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
