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What would a straight seeding of the playoffs look like for the Indiana Pacers?

By Ben Gibson

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 05: Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Indiana Pacers passes the ball after grabbing a rebound during a game against the Washington Wizards at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on February 5, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Wizards won 111-102. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using the photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 05: Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Indiana Pacers passes the ball after grabbing a rebound during a game against the Washington Wizards at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on February 5, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Wizards won 111-102. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using the photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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What would it look like for the Indiana Pacers with a modified playoff system that would seed the 16 playoff teams from both conferences together?

The Indiana Pacers will face the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs…

Or at least that’s who they would face if the playoffs started today and NBA went to a modified seeding system where they seeded teams 1 through 16, regardless of conference. Funnily enough, though, that’s who the Pacers would face anyway if the playoffs started today under the current format.

The idea of straight seeding has floated around for years now as an alternative to the current format, which some see as unfairly rewarding Eastern Conference teams while the Western Conference had been more competitive.

The difference now is this isn’t coming from Twitter or Grantland (RIP) but from the NBA commissioner himself, Adam Silver.

At his annual All-Star press conference, Silver addressed the idea. While some want the top 16 teams in the NBA, the commissioner would start the process with the top 8 teams from each conference. From ESPN’s Brian Windhorst:

"Silver said his concept would keep the best eight teams from each conference in the playoffs, but would seed those teams 1-16. In that scenario, if the top two teams were from the same conference, it would set up a possible Finals meeting.“You also would like to have a format where your two best teams are ultimately going to meet in the Finals,” Silver said. “You could have a situation where the top two teams in the league are meeting in the conference finals or somewhere else. So we’re going to continue to look at that. It’s still my hope that we’re going to figure out ways.”"

Here’s how the top-8 teams from each conference would be seeded if the playoff started today:

Houston Rockets (1)
Miami Heat (16)

Washington Wizards (8)
Indiana Pacers (9)

Cleveland Cavaliers (5)
Denver Nuggets (12)

Boston Celtics (4)
Portland Trail Blazers (13)

San Antonio Spurs (6)
Oklahoma City Thunder (11)

Toronto Raptors (3)
Philadelphia 76ers (14)

Minnesota Timberwolves (7)
Milwaukee Bucks (10)

Golden State Warriors (2)
New Orleans Pelicans (15)

The only team that might feel left out if the Los Angeles Clippers. They’re 9th in the West, but the Clippers’ 0.536 winning percentage is better than the Heat’s 0.517. Another team, the Utah Jazz, have the same winning percentage as Miami but have lost both matchups to the Heat, so they would lose the tiebreaker.

As mentioned before, the 9th seeded Pacers and 8th seeded Wizards would still meet in this format as they would as the current 5th and 4th place teams in the East. But the new format soon shows how much harder it can be as the winner of that series as they would likely face the Houston Rockets. In this scenario, Houston would face Miami in the first round.

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That’s not a good matchup for the Pacers considering the Rockets beat Indiana handily twice this season already.

Assuming all the other series follow the chalk and somehow the Pacers beat the Rockets, their path to the Finals features another team that might make it there this season.

Indiana’s semifinal opponent would be the Boston Celtics after they dispatched the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers in the first two rounds. A matchup against the Cavaliers doesn’t sound much better for Indiana, either.

But if the miracles continue, the Pacers and Golden State Warriors would meet in the Finals, assuming the Warriors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Toronto Raptors on the way.

The straight seeding proposal isn’t a bad idea at all, but as the current standings show, only one team in the West could argue they earned a spot over an Eastern team. There were seasons in the past where the Western teams had a strong argument for such a system, but this season isn’t one of them.

Next: Potential trade partners for the Pacers this summer

Unless there is major pushback from the owners, I wouldn’t be surprised if the NBA switches to this format in the next few years. It creates new playoff rivalries while — hopefully — putting the best two teams in the Finals.

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