Basketball: NBA Playoffs 2010 preview

Conference standings on 9.3.2010:

Sixteen teams qualify for the NBA Playoffs, 8 from the Eastern and 8 from the Western conferences. The three division winners in each conference earn the conference's top three playoff seeds. The division winner with the best record is ranked #1. Remaining five teams are ranked according to their won-lost ratio, regardless of divisional alignment.

#1 in each conference will play #8 in their conference, #2 plays #7, #3 plays #6 and #4 plays #5. In the Conference Semifinals, the winner of #1 vs. #8 plays the winner of #4 vs. #5, and the winner of #2 vs. #7 plays the winner of #3 vs. #6. The winners of the Conference Semifinals then meet in the Conference Finals. Winners in the Eastern and Western conferences advancing to the NBA Finals.

NBA tie-breaking procedure

In the event that two teams are tied in the standings, a series of tiebreakers is applied to determine playoff position:

a. Results of games against each other.
b. Higher winning percentage in conference games.
c. Higher winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division).
d. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference.
e. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in opposite conference.
f. Higher point differential between points scored and points allowed.

Playoffs format

All rounds of the NBA Playoffs are best-of-7 games. This means, the team that is the first to win four games out of seven is the winner of that round. The First Round, the Conference Semifinals and the Conference Finals are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The NBA Finals are played on a 2-3-2 basis. Teams with the better record during the regular season gained home-court advantage.