Reforming the NBA Playoffs

Dealing with injuries and aging superstars, the 2009-2010 Boston Celtics essentially went on cruise control finishing the second half of the regular season at .500. They did this knowing they would make the playoffs, hoping to rest their players for the long playoff grind. As a result, the Celtics, who many thought were finished, made a surprising run all the way to the seventh game of the NBA finals, which they almost managed to win against the Lakers.

The Lakers are now struggling this season and some are beginning to speculate that they have decided to follow the Celtics' model of not placing as much emphasis on the regular season but just getting in and then making their run once in the postseason.

This seems to be a common occurrence in the NBA. We constantly hear about players and teams not really trying until the playoffs, thus resulting in boring games and big name players (Shaq) just coasting through the regular season.

There is, however, a relatively simple way in which the NBA could reform its playoff model, which would keep the best teams trying for the top seed throughout the regular season and also make the playoffs more interesting.

In the NFL, the top two teams in each conference receive a first round bye and host a home game in the divisional round of the playoffs. A more modest, yet similar model could be adopted in the NBA. The talent in the NBA is diluted and frequently very mediocre teams often make the playoffs who probably don't belong there. And, the top teams know they can get in and don't try hard in the regular season. The NBA could simply reduce the number of teams in each conference that get into the playoffs from 8 to 7, giving the number one seed a first round bye and home court throughout the conference playoffs.

This would accomplish two things: The top teams would keep trying throughout the regular season to get that first round bye and a couple of weeks of extra rest. The playoffs would also be more competitive as there always seems to be one team each year that squeeks into the playoffs and shouldn't be there.

These two factors would make the regular season much more meaningful as the best teams would be vying for that top spot and all teams would be trying harder to get into a smaller postseason pool.