2007 NBA playoffs
Template:Future sport The 2007 NBA Playoffs will be the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2006-2007 season.
Format
Consisting of 16 teams in 2 conferences, the playoffs involve nearly two months of play. The playoffs are conducted in four rounds of best-of-seven series. The three division winners in each conference, along with the five best non-division winners in each conference, qualify for the playoffs. The division winners and top second-place team are seeded first through fourth based on record, with the remaining teams seeded fifth through eighth on record. Up until last year, the division winners earned the top three seeds in the conference; this was amended by the NBA on August 3, 2006 to rectify the problem highlighted by controversy in last year's playoffs.[1] Under this new system, the teams with the two best records in the conference cannot meet until the conference finals, unlike last year, when the 63-win San Antonio Spurs and the 60-win Dallas Mavericks met in the conference semifinals.
In each series, the team with the better record (or which wins a tiebreaker, in the event that teams with identical records are matched) holds home court advantage, meaning that the seventh game, if played, is held in their home arena. The first two games in each series are played in the home arena of the team with home court advantage. The third and fourth games are played in the other arena. The fifth, sixth, and seventh games alternate between the two arenas. However, in the NBA Finals, the team with home court advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, while the other team hosts Games 3, 4 and 5.
Playoff qualifying
Eastern Conference
Best record in conference
The Detroit Pistons clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference, and have home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Clinched a playoff berth
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East:
- Detroit Pistons (Clinched Central division)
- Chicago Bulls
- Toronto Raptors (Clinched Atlantic division)
- Miami Heat (Clinched Southeast division)
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Washington Wizards
- New Jersey Nets
Western Conference
Best record in NBA
The Dallas Mavericks clinched the best record in the NBA, and have home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs.
Clinched a playoff berth
The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West:
- Dallas Mavericks (Clinched Southwest division)*
- Phoenix Suns (Clinched Pacific division)
- San Antonio Spurs
- Utah Jazz (Clinched Northwest division)*
- Houston Rockets*
- Denver Nuggets
* Also clinched their seed
Teams Eliminated From Playoff Contention
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Seattle SuperSonics
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Sacramento Kings
Playoff matchups
If the playoffs were to begin April 13th, this would be the outlook (with the home court team in bold):
| First round | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Detroit* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Orlando | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Miami* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Cleveland | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Toronto* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chicago | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | New Jersey | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Dallas* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | L.A. Clippers | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Utah* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Houston | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | San Antonio | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Denver | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Phoenix* | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | L.A. Lakers | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
* Division leader