Since the launch of the play-off format, public opinion has mixed opinions about the new format. In particular, the 10th team in the West and the 7th team in the West have lost more than 10 wins this season, and there is a gap in strength, but now they still have the opportunity to compete for playoff tickets, which makes many people shout "unfair".
But even if there is a loophole, the rule is still the rule. The top 4 teams in the division are competing for the home advantage of the playoffs, and the launch of the play-offs has increased the motivation of the middle and lower teams in the division to continue to go all out in the closing stage, adding a lot of suspense to the sprint stage.
Taking this season as an example, the battle for the 6th place in the division and the battle for the place in the play-offs are very fierce. In previous years, when it entered the final 20 days of the regular season, many games would become unattractive due to a team's loss of playing power, deliberate rotation and other reasons, but now even the Spurs, who are 11th in the West, have the motivation to rush up.
Play-off format and situation
The playoffs were launched in the 2019-20 season, when the onslaught of the pandemic caused the regular season to be interrupted for a long time. Later, the league decided to restart the season in the Orlando park, with only 22 teams entering the park to compete for 16 playoff spots. The league introduced a play-off format, the rule at that time was that the top 7 in the East and West went directly to the playoffs, and the team in the 8th and 9th had to play a playoff if the difference in victory was less than 4 games.
That season, the 8th-place Magic in the East led the 9th-place Wizards by as many as eight wins, so there were no play-offs in the East. The first playoff in NBA history was played between the 8th-placed Blazers in the West and the 9th Grizzlies that according to the rules, the Blazers won one game to lock in the 8th place to advance to the playoffs, and the Grizzlies needed to win the Blazers twice in a row to advance. In the end, the Blazers narrowly defeated the Grizzlies 126-122 in the playoffs to lock up playoff tickets.
Originally thought that the play-off format was a stopgap measure, but seeing that the launch of the play-off format worked well, in the 2020-21 season, the league officially launched the play-off format. Under the new format, the top 6 teams in the East and West directly enter the playoffs, while the teams in the 7th to 10th places will have to play play-offs, and there is no longer a restriction on the difference in winning.
The play-off format is as follows:
Game 1: The 7th-placed team plays the 8th team at home, with the winner entering the playoffs as the 7th and the loser playing Game 3.
Match 2: The 9th-ranked team plays the 10th team at home, with the winner playing game 3.
Match 3: The loser in the 7th and 8th team showdown, the winner of the 9th and 10th place matches at home, the winner becoming the final 8th place.
That said, teams in 7th and 8th have two chances of winning the next game to advance to the playoffs, while teams ranked 9th and 10th need to win two games in a row to advance to the playoffs.
After all the games on March 22, Beijing time, the teams in the play-off area in the east are the Raptors, Nets, Hornets and Hawks, and the four teams in the west are the Timberwolves, Clippers, Lakers and Pelicans. However, the playoff situation is not so simple, the 6th battle in the East and West is very fierce, the Bulls, Cavaliers and Raptors must have one team to become unlucky to play the playoffs, and one of the Western Lone Rangers, Jazz, Timberwolves, and Nuggets must fall into the playoff area.
In addition, the ranking battle in the play-off area is also fierce, and each team will definitely want to rise to the 7th or 8th place in the division, occupy a favorable position, and if they can't reach this position, they must do their best to rank 9th, so as to at least ensure that the match between the 10th place is played on their home field.
The Nets, no. 8 in the East, are only one win ahead of the Hornets and 2.5 wins ahead of the Hawks at no. 10, and the suspense is still great. The 8th in the West is basically determined to be the Clippers, and the Lakers and Pelicans can only fight for the 9th. It is worth mentioning that the Spurs still have the hope of reaching the 10th place in the West, they are only 2 wins behind the Pelicans, judging from the Spurs' last win over the Warriors, they have not completely messed up the search for high draft picks.
7 suspense about the play-offs
1. The East grabs six major battles
The situation in the east is very chaotic and the internal volume is serious. The Strong Wizards at the beginning of the season and the Knicks, who had a pleasant performance last season, quit the play-off quota battle despite their poor record, but the competition in the Eastern Play-off Area was still fierce enough.
The first is the "Grab Six", in which the Bulls, Cavaliers and Raptors compete for two places that go straight to the playoffs, and one of them will definitely be unlucky and forced to play the playoffs. The Nets have the potential to join the competition.
Don't look at the Bulls and Cavaliers now occupy the 5th and 6th places in the East respectively, but in fact, their positions are not safe at all, and the gap between the Raptors and the Bulls is only 2.5 wins, and the Cavaliers is only 1 win difference. In the last 20 days, the rankings of the three teams may change.
Especially the Bulls, before the Bulls once ranked first in the East, but now the Bulls have lost their previous sharpness due to injuries, playing style and other reasons. In the sprint, the Bulls' schedule was the toughest of the three teams, with their opponents averaging 54.3 percent wins. The Bulls also have to play the Heat and Celtics once each, and the Bucks twice. Considering that the Bulls have been unable to win against the top-ranked teams this season, it is not impossible for them to fall to 7th place. In addition, the Bulls also have 1 direct match with the Cavaliers, which is significant for the final ranking of the three teams.
From the perspective of the difficulty of the schedule alone, the Cavaliers have a slight advantage, but the advantage is not large. A major variable in the "six-game rush" in the East is injury, and the Bulls' main defender Lonzo Ball has not recovered from the injury as expected and has not returned for a long time. Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen is also recuperating from injuries and when he will return is unknown. On the Raptors' side, Anunoby and Gary Trent were also injured. Which team has a more complete lineup in the sprint stage has a greater chance of landing.
2. Can the Nets escape the play-off area?
The Nets are currently only 8th in the East, three wins away from the 6th-place Cavaliers in the East, but it's too early to think the Nets are bound to fall into the play-offs.
Admittedly, the Nets still face problems. Whether Ben Simmons can return in the regular season because of herniated lumbar disc is still unknown, and Kyrie Irving's refusal to vaccinate is a foregone conclusion, which means that Irving can only play 3 games in the last 10 games (because of New York's epidemic prevention policy, although the game with the Knicks is away, Irving still can't play).
However, the 3 games that Irving can play are the Nets' away games with the Grizzlies, the Heat, and the Hawks, and the effect of Irving and Durant's combination is obvious to all, and the Nets have a good chance of successfully gnawing these hard bones. With Durant's ability to lead the team with a single core, the Nets play the Pistons, Rockets, Pacers and other swing teams, as well as the Nets play the Knicks, Hornets, which are not as good as the Nets, to win the suspense. Once the Bulls, Cavaliers and Raptors unexpectedly slipped in the "Steal Six" game, the Nets were not unable to get out of the play-off area.
3. East 8, 9, 10 ranking battle
With the current rankings, the 8th-placed Nets in the East, the Hornets at No. 9 and the Hawks at No. 10 have another ranking battle. The win difference between the Hawks and the Nets is only 2.5, and the Hawks have the second most relaxed schedule in the league, with an average win rate of only 45.2%, and they have every chance to improve the ranking.
These 3 teams definitely want to improve their rankings, rush to the 7th needless to say, play at home in the playoffs, lock in the playoff tickets if they win, and have another chance to lose. Rushing to 8th place means there is hope of reaching the playoffs with a win. Being in 9th place at least means being at home when playing against 10th place.
In this ranking battle, in addition to the Nets' Simmons and Irving, there are john Collins of the Hawks and Gordon Hayward of the Hornets. Collins and Hayward are both recuperating from injuries at the moment, and they are both the main scorers of their respective teams. If they can return, the battle for rankings will be more intense.
4. Grab six major wars in the west
The situation in the West is as complicated as the East, ostensibly competing with the Lone Rangers, Timberwolves and Nuggets, but in fact, the Jazz are not impossible to fall, and the Jazz are currently only 1 win ahead of the Lone Rangers.
Of the four teams, the Lone Ranger's situation should be the best. Because the Lone Rangers have a very easy schedule, with an average win rate of only 46%, they only have to face the Bucks, Timberwolves (2 times) and Cavaliers, and they have 6 games to play against teams in the lotto zone, such as the Rockets, Blazers, Pistons, which are already focused on training young players.
The core point of this competition may be the Timberwolves and Nuggets who can get out of the playoff zone, who will fall into the playoff area with a nearly 60% win rate. From a schedule perspective, the Timberwolves have a tougher schedule remaining, with opponents including the Suns, Celtics and other strong teams. The variable is whether the Nuggets can bring back Michael Porter and Jamal Murray in the finale of the regular season. Judging from the current news, Porter Jr. is expected to return, but the probability of Murray's return is low. In addition, on April 2, the Timberwolves and the Nuggets had another direct confrontation.
5. The Clippers are secretly gathering strength?
The Clippers, who are firmly in 8th place in the West, are the most comfortable, they are 6 wins away from the Timberwolves in front, 4.5 wins ahead of the Lakers behind them, basically the Clippers have locked in the 8th place in the West, only to wait for the playoff opponent to determine.
The Clippers looked desperate, but in fact, in the second half of the team, the Clippers were the ones most likely to make waves in the West. According to the latest news, Paul George conducted a four-on-four light confrontation training today, there was no pain in his elbow, and he was one step closer to a comeback. Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell are still recovering and still have the possibility of coming back late in the regular season.
If the Clippers pick up their top three scorers, the Clippers have a good chance of moving through the playoffs and then causing trouble for the Grizzlies or Warriors at the top of the line. Even if only George returns from the three, the Clippers' current roster cannot be underestimated, and George's 26 Games the Clippers have been unevenly played and have won 14 wins. Under Tylen Lue, it's no surprise that the Clippers have played.
6. Can the Lakers keep the 9th?
The Lakers' fall into the current embarrassing position is surprising, after the Lakers once lost miserably, making people see no hope. But recently, LeBron James has continued to be strong, russell Westbrook finally played the performance that the Lakers want to see, the Lakers have won 2 of their last 3 games with crazy offense, ranking 9th in the West and 1 win ahead of the Pelicans.
For the Lakers, the most pleasing thing for them is undoubtedly the recovery of Wei Shao, who has averaged 21.3 points, 8 rebounds and 9.7 assists in the last 3 games, shooting 53.2% from the field, shooting 50% from three-point range, and reducing the number of turnovers to 3.3, and he has won 9.7 points per game for the Lakers. Westbrook's timely recovery gave the Lakers hope of locking up play-off tickets and entering the playoffs.
In addition, Anthony Davis is recovering well from injury and has been doing more and more in pre-match training recently. According to the schedule, Davis is expected to make a comeback at the end of this month or early April. Once Davis returns, the Lakers' defense has improved, and the Lakers will have more confidence in rushing through the playoff tickets.
7. Can spurs make it to the playoffs?
The Spurs are currently in 11th place, two wins behind the Pelicans. Considering that entering the playoffs does not make much sense, in theory, the Spurs should go all out at this time to try to improve the probability of getting a high pick. But with the Spurs' team culture, deliberately losing is never in their plans, and the last Spurs beat the Warriors was an example.
Although the Spurs are two wins behind the Pelicans, the Spurs still have a chance to reach 10th place in the West and advance to the playoffs. Because the Pelicans have been almost unable to bring back Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram is still recuperating, Derwent Graham's hip injury performance is affected, and the Pelicans are damaged.
The remaining spurs are slightly more difficult than the Pelicans, but the variable is that the Spurs have three more games to play against the Trail Blazers who have announced Lillard's reimbursement into bad mode, 1 more time with the Rockets, and 1 direct game with the Pelicans. If the Spurs win these 5 games, especially the direct confrontation with the Pelicans, it is not impossible for the Spurs to counterattack the Pelicans in the final stages to enter the top ten.
epilogue
The launch of the play-off format is unlikely to satisfy everyone, especially those who are ranked 7th and 8th in previous years and have made it directly to the playoffs, and they are certainly not happy with this format. But for leagues that are looking for ratings, the rollout of the play-off format is a win. In the last 20 days of the regular season, even the teams in the middle and lower reaches of the league still have something to pay attention to, and the intensity of the game can be guaranteed as much as possible, which is undoubtedly a good thing for ratings.