NBA learns from PBA
The PBA has adopted several rules from the NBA playbook but it’s far from a one-way street. When the NBA instituted the play-in system two years ago, it introduced the double-chance system which is actually the twice-to-beat advantage that’s been long in effect in the PBA. And when the NBA rolled out the in-season tournament this year, it brought in the concept of the quotient which has also been an age-old practice in breaking ties in the PBA.
In the play-in, teams ranked seventh to 10th in the East and West are made to compete in a pocket tournament to determine the last two playoff qualifiers for each conference at the end of the regular season. The seventh placer carries a twice-to-beat advantage over No. 8. The winner clinches No. 7 and the loser battles the winner of No. 9 and No. 10 for the eighth ticket. It’s a way to give teams that are in the fringes a chance to make the playoffs through the back door.
In the in-season, the 30 teams are split into three groups of five per conference. Teams in each group play each other once and the top placer advances to the knockout quarterfinals. If there are ties in the standings, the quotient or plus-minus will break logjams. The quotients are computed to cover all games, not just those involving the tied teams. Aside from the six top finishers moving to the quarters, one from each conference will also advance and it will be the best second place finisher.
In the East, Indiana and Milwaukee swept their groups with 4-0 records while Boston made it with a +27 factor to snap a tie with Orlando and Brooklyn at 3-1 each. New York advanced as the best second placer with a +42 quotient over Cleveland at +29 and Orlando at +20. In the West, the LA Lakers and Sacramento went 4-0 while New Orleans topped its group with a 3-1 record, leaving Houston, Dallas and Denver at 2-2 and the LA Clippers at 1-3. Phoenix was the best second placer at +34 over Houston at +10 and Minnesota at 0.
During the elims, Boston made sure it would rack up enough points in the quotient by walloping Chicago, 124-97 in its last elim game. Although up by 32 with 7:34 to go, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called to hack poor foul shooter Andre Drummond in
