By Cody Clifton|April 14, 2023
Let’s face it, the NBA Play-In Tournament is a huge win for the NBA and its fans. Not only does it help reduce the number of teams that tank, but it also provides a dramatic opening for the NBA’s main event, the Playoffs. Already Atlanta has stolen the 7th seed, and the 10th seed Thunder and Bulls have kept their hopes alive with wins. With any new event, however, there are always a few kinks to work out, and seemingly the largest issue right now that no one is talking about is how the seeds line up.
Image via Jordan Johnson/NBAE/Getty
As currently constructed the 7th seed hosts the 8th seed, the winner of this game is the 7th seed and the loser goes on to host the winner of the 9th and 10th seed’s game. This inherently rewards the 7th and 8th seeds for having a better record. At face value, this is a fair reward and a huge advantage, but in an NBA with more scoring variance game to game than ever before, this reward is not sufficient.
One of the reasons the NBA Playoffs are so thrilling is that teams have to win four games in a series to move on. Compare this to the FIFA World Cup, the Super Bowl, or even March Madness, and it is by far the best system for determining who the best team is. In one game any team can win, but when a team must win at least four games per series to advance, that is when we can truly tell who the better team is.
Back to the original point. The reward for the 7th and 8th seeds is not satisfactory. Eventually, there will be a scenario in which a team in the 7th seed will have a far superior record than the lower-seeded teams, and their reward is what? To further earn a spot in one-off games? Okay so the NBA Play-In Tournament needs to continue but also requires some fine-tuning, but the question is what would give the 7th and 8th seeds a better edge?
Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE/Getty Images
The possible solution… The 7th seed should choose their opponent for the play-in between the 9th and 10th seed, and they should play that team up to two times, at home, only requiring one win to advance. As previously mentioned, any team can win a single game but winning two times on the road is much more difficult. This creates a situation where the 7th and 8th seeds are even more valuable. Instead of two teams who previously would have been in the playoffs automatically having to face off, now the 7th and 8th seeds get two home games against a team behind them in the standings. So how would seeding work based on the results?
Possible Outcomes:
If the 7th seed wins one of their play-in games they remain the 7th seed.
If the 7th seed loses both and the 8th seed wins one of their play-in games they become the 7th seed.
If both the 9th and 10th seed win, then the 9th seed moves to the 7th seed, and the 10th seed moves to the 8th seed.
The Play-In is awesome. It creates excitement and convinces more teams to care instead of tanking. This, however, does not mean it cannot use some tweaks. Hopefully, in the future, we see the play-in continue to evolve to balance both excitement and fairness.
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