The Eastern Conference Playoff Picture table presents the probabilities that a team will win each NBA playoff spot. Who is the biggest threat to the Celtics in the East? The Nuggets in the West? And which team will be crowned champion? Who is playing in Sunday's NBA playoff games? · Miami Heat at Boston Celtics, 1 p.m. Whos in the playoffs nba · Dallas Mavericks at Los Angeles Clippers, p.m. ET. The Cavs topped OrlandoMinnesota rolled past Phoenixthe Knicks held off Philadelphia and the defending champion Nuggets eventually got.
Highest winning percentage within division if teams are in the same division 4. Highest winning percentage in conference games 5. Highest winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference 6. Highest point differential between points scored and points allowed. All rights reserved. East: 0. Washington, who have blended well alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
The Lakers were among the best teams in the league in the final two months of the season, and LeBron James and Anthony Davis were fantastic in that stretch — James averaged The 76ers ended the season with eight consecutive victories. All-Star center Joel Embiid returned for five of those games. When healthy, the Sixers are a top team in the East.
But is Embiid healthy enough and in the kind of game shape necessary to push and carry the Sixers into the conference finals. The Bucks limped into the playoffs literally and figuratively, losing seven of their last 10 games while All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo strained left calf missed the final three regular-season games.
Their record against the Bucks this season makes this a doubly intriguing first-round series. A record to end the regular season cost the Cavaliers a shot at the No. The Magic lost four of their final six regular-season games but won game No. Their No. In all of its three years the BAA champion was finally determined in a best-of-seven series but its first two tournaments, the and BAA playoffs , were otherwise quite different from the third, which 21st-century NBA playoffs nearly match.
In and , the Eastern and Western Division champions were matched in a best-of-seven series following the regular season, whose winner advanced to the championship round. Meanwhile, four runners-up played best-of-three series to determine the other finalist: the two second-place teams were matched in one short series and the two third-place teams in another; the winners of those two series played another one.
In , the Philadelphia Warriors won the runners-up bracket and beat the Western champion Chicago Stags four games to one, which the NBA recognizes as its first championship; in Baltimore won the runners-up and beat Eastern champion Philadelphia in the final.
Both tournaments generated one finalist from the Eastern and one from the Western Division, but only by chance. Whos in the playoffs nba In , the third and last BAA tournament matched Eastern teams exclusively and Western teams exclusively, necessarily generating Eastern and Western playoff champions to meet in the final. At the same time, the number of playoff teams was increased from three to four from each Division; two rounds of best-of-three series were played, followed by a best-of-seven championship.
The main idea was retained by the NBA. Even the tournament , following a transitional season with three divisions rather than two, initially determined one playoff champion from each division. The Central champion Minneapolis Lakers became the first league champion under the NBA name by defeating Anderson from the West in a best-of-three, with Syracuse from the East idle, and then knocking off the Syracuse Nationals in six games.
The through playoffs changed the division finals into a best-of-five playoff. With only nine league members in —54, the NBA cut its postseason tournament field from eight teams to six from through , the period of eight to nine league members. Round robins were played in , uniquely in NBA history—a three-team round robin among the three playoff teams in each division.
From to , the first-place team in each division was idle while its two runners-up faced played a best-of-three. Division finals were expanded to best-of-seven in and division semifinals to best-of-five in With ten league members again for the —67 season, eight teams were again admitted to the tournament, providing a simple three-round knockout 8-team bracket.
A year later, the division semifinals were changed to best-of-seven playoff. Then, in and , respectively, a fifth and sixth team were added to each Division, necessitating an additional first round of best-of-three series. Finally in , the tournament expanded to its present team, four-round knockout, and the now-complete set of first-round series was expanded to a best-of-five.
In the first round was changed to also be best-of-seven. The result was that each conference would have three divisions of five teams each, and the winner of each division was guaranteed a top-three playoff seed. This would change slightly after the —06 season; while division winners still receive automatic playoff berths, they are guaranteed a top- four seed, as described below.
The playoff format in place for the and NBA playoffs created controversy and would be changed prior to the —07 NBA season. Prior to , when the NBA was aligned into two conferences with two divisions each, the division champions were guaranteed the top two seeds. This meant that the top two teams in a conference could never meet until the conference finals, assuming they both made it to that round.
After the NBA realigned its two conferences into three divisions each, the seeding rules remained largely unchanged. The top three seeds would now be reserved for division champions. However, this meant that if the top two teams by record in a conference were in the same division, the division runner-up could do no better than the fourth seed.
Assuming no first-round upsets, this raised the prospect that the top two teams in the conference would face each other in the conference semifinals, instead of the conference finals. In the second year of this format, the —06 NBA season, the two teams with the best records in the Western Conference and the second- and third-best records in the entire league , the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks of the Southwest Division , did just that.
This turn of events led to the playoff format being criticized by many. In August , the NBA announced a rules change. Beginning in the —07 season, the top four seeds in each conference would be seeded according to their win—loss totals. This assures that the team with the second-best record in the conference will receive the second seed even if it is not a division champion, thus "guaranteeing that the top two teams in each conference cannot meet until the conference finals".
There were no byes , or idle time, for the division champions—as there would be for higher-seeded playoff teams —66 and — All six participants played their first tournament games on Wednesday, April 2; in the two Eastern runners-up E2, E3 in the figure were idle for a few days only because there was a three-way Western tie to break. Both winners of the runners-up bracket, Philadelphia in and Baltimore in , reached the final series having played fewer tournament games than their final opponents, Chicago in and Philadelphia in , had played in the best-of-7 pairings of division champions.
And both winners of the runners-up bracket won the final series. The "postseason" actually comprised 11 games played in a span of 21 days for the Chicago Stags and 13 games in 30 days for Philadelphia Warriors, the finalists who emerged from the pairing of division champions. The to tournaments alone combined initial byes for the top seeded teams in each division with best-of-five initial series for second and third seeded teams in both divisions.
The byes provided five and seven extra days idle for the first-place teams. By the schedule provided more rest for the first-round participants with byes of 11 and eight extra days idle. The tournament is the latest to incorporate first-round byes for seeded teams. The first-round best-of-three series tapped off on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19 and 20; the second-round best-of-sevens on Sunday to the following Wednesday, April Counting from Tuesday the byes provided five to eight extra days idle.
In the play-in format, if the ninth-place team within a conference finished the regular season within four games of the eighth-place team, they would compete in a postseason play-in series. In , the top six teams in each conference advance to the playoffs, while seventh- through tenth-placed teams qualified for a play-in tournament. The seventh- and eighth-place teams got up to two chances to win one game to qualify for the playoffs, while the ninth- and tenth-place teams needed to win two consecutive games to advance.
Playoff teams must identify their postseason rosters before the playoffs begin. They are allowed up to 15 players each and can designate two players as inactive for each game. Current as of the NBA playoffs. The all-time NBA playoffs table is an overall record of all match results of every team that has played in playoffs since the —47 season.
The table is accurate as of the end of the NBA playoffs. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk.