Under New Division Rules, Celtics Face Tougher Road To Postseason
BOSTON (CBS) – The road back to the postseason just got a little bit more difficult for the Celtics next season, after the NBA board of governors approved a rule change that eliminates the value of winning one's division in the NBA.
For years, every single team that won one of the six NBA divisions would be granted not just a playoff spot, but also a guaranteed top four seed in the postseason as a reward for besting regional rivals. While the rule gave division titles meaning, it also routinely rewarded teams with worse records, such as the Portland Trail Blazers last season.
The Northwest division champs won 51 games, a mark that made them the sixth best overall regular season team in the Western Conference. However, the division win slotted them as the four seed in the West, punishing the San Antonio Spurs who were forced to face the Los Angeles Clippers as the sixth seed, despite finishing with 55 regular season wins.
That first-round matchup between the Clippers and Spurs was entertaining to watch, but it seemed premature given that both teams were title contenders. It may have proven to be the final straw in pushing forward the rule change, as now each conference will be seeded purely according to regular season record. Division winners will no longer be guaranteed a playoff spot either, and are no longer the first criterion for a tiebreaker.
Instead, head-to-head results will be the primary tiebreaker for playoff seeding and home-court advantage.
The changes are a worthwhile move by the league to create a fair playing field across both conferences, but the decision will hurt the Celtics in the interim. Boston currently remains in one of the weakest divisions in the entire league.
The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to tank for the third straight season. The New York Knicks struck out on landing big-name free agents and are a borderline playoff team. The Brooklyn Nets are in cost-cutting mode with a veteran core that's susceptible to injury. Only the Toronto Raptors are expected to be a playoff team and after a disappointing finish to the 2014-15 season, it's unclear whether a number of roster changes will mix well together come October.
In past years, lackluster competition would have allowed the Celtics an easier path to a playoff spot since all the team needed to do was top that quartet to earn a playoff ticket. Now, Brad Stevens must best much of an improved Eastern Conference, not just the division, to return to the postseason.
The Celtics will still battle their division foes four times each this year, so the franchise will benefit from the underwhelming Atlantic in the win-loss column. However, with the old division loophole now closed, the road to a top-four seed in the East just got a little steeper.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
