houheffna wrote:
After the 2006 season I believe. In direct response to the Mavs/Spurs series being in the semis and not the Finals. Those two teams were considered the two best teams in the West, and under the knew format, would have been the first and second seeds in the conference.
Right. It was a reaction to that.
Then there was one year, it might of been 2005. the Nuggets were the 3rd seed and won a weak Northwest div. But because they were the 3rd seed, and a div winner, they got automatic home court. The Grizzlies and Clippers (this might of been 2006 actually) were tied for the 6/5th seed on the last day of the season. And I think they actually played each other.
The situation was, the loser would get a weak Denver team and the winner (the 5th seed) would have to play Dallas, a 4th seed. Yes, this was the same year.
the Clippers tanked the game and Memphis played to win. Their reward for winning the 5th seed was a date with the Mavs, the team with the 2nd best record in the NBA but a 4th seed in the west because of the format.
The Clippers got to play 3rd seeded Denver. The Clippers, even though they were a 6th seed, had a better record than Denver. The Clippers ended up beating Denver (I think in 5 games) and the Grizzlies got swept by Dallas.
so yeah, that 2006 WC playoffs was the reason for all the changes.
