So about those NBA seeding games in Orlando which got underway on July 30th as part of the league’s restart: I was one of many folks who questioned the restart, particularly the need for so many games before getting into postseason play. Nearly all of the league’s 16 playoff qualifiers had already been decided, and with every scheduled game taking place on a neutral court, there was no homecourt advantage to be gained for those few teams with the opportunity to move up in their conference standings. Well, the seeding games have games finally concluded, the results are in, and I’m still wondering why there was a need to play them.
VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT IN THE STANDINGS
As expected, with each team playing only eight games, there was very little movement in the standings, particularly in the Eastern Conference. The only playoff contenders that changed positions during the seeding games were the fourth and fifth seeds, Indiana and Miami, respectively. Those two teams were going to meet in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, anyway. So Indiana moved up one spot to the fourth seed, didn’t change their first-round opponent nor earn homecourt advantage, and dropped lower in the 2020 NBA Draft order.
My favorite Eastern Conference playoff scenario going into the final day of seeding games:
- Miami will be seeded No. 4 if they beat Indiana on August 14
- Miami will be seeded No. 5 if they lose to Indiana on August 14
- Indiana will be seeded No. 4 if they beat Miami on August 14
- Indiana will be seeded No. 5 if they lose to Miami on August 14
The Washington Wizards had no business playing in these games, especially without Bradley Beal, and they slid from ninth to tenth place. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets moved from tenth to ninth place in the Eastern Conference without having played a game, as they were not invited to the bubble.
To summarize, not one Eastern Conference playoff pairing ( (1) Milwaukee vs (8) Orlando, (2) Toronto vs (7) Brooklyn, (3) Boston vs (6) Philadelphia, (4) Indiana vs (5) Miami) changed from the start of the seeding games through the end.
The Western Conference saw more movement than the East but only one team, the Portland Trailblazers, ended up moving into a playoff spot they hadn’t secured prior to the league’s stoppage in March. Only the Houston Rockets (from sixth place to fourth) and the Utah Jazz (from fourth place to sixth) swapped positions among teams already locked into playoff berths. The Phoenix Suns were invited to the Orlando bubble, won all eight of their games, and still didn’t qualify for the play-in game.
THE DEFENSE NEVER CAUGHT UP TO THE OFFENSE
The other thing that didn’t change was the abundance of high-scoring games. Teams still tossed up three-point attempts without conscience, and over half the games (46 of 88) saw at least one team score over 120 points. In 19 of the 88 games, both teams tallied 120 points or more. The two highest single-game scores, 153 and 149, occurred in the same game between Houston and Dallas. The contest went to overtime but let’s be honest: that was a video game.
Some analysts suggested that the enclosed arena created a better shooting background than the spacious venues the players are used to. But with little to play for, these games resembled the ones we typically see after the All-Star break. During the regular NBA calendar, the defensive intensity wanes in March and April.
THE MICHAEL PORTER, JR. PHENOMENON
As a result of injuries to several of his teammates, Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. suddenly found himself playing more minutes during the seeding games. He took full advantage of the situation, averaging 22.0 points and 8.6 rebounds and earning a spot on the NBA’s “All-Seeding Games” Second Team. This included a 37-point, 12-rebound performance against Oklahoma City.
No one Porter’s age (just turned 22 in June) deserves to already have a history of back injuries, including two surgeries. So we’re all rooting for him to beat the odds and enjoy a long, successful NBA career. The talent he displayed in high school and during a brief college stint was on display in Orlando. This led fans (including many who applauded their teams’ decision to NOT draft him) to go in on the front office of their favorite team for passing up the opportunity to draft Porter out of the University of Missouri in 2018. Porter slipped to the 14th pick in that year’s NBA Draft due to health concerns.
We might want to pump the brakes on that a bit. A seven-game tear is one thing, an 82-game season involving coast-to-coast travel, back-to-back games, and possibly an extra month or two of post-season play is quite another. The back will be tested during the course of a full season; let’s hope it passes.
PORTLAND CRASHES THE PLAY-IN PARTY
Let’s face it, the play-in game featuring the Portland Trailblazers and the Memphis Grizzlies is NOT what league execs had in mind when creating this format. True enough, basketball fans have no problem watching guys like Damien Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Rookie of the Year Ja Morant display their talents, but the entire concept of play-in games was designed for Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans to be one of the participants.
The Grizzlies did well to go into the bubble as the number eight seed in the Western Conference when (I’ll confidently speak for everyone here) no one thought they would. And Portland had to make up some ground but did enough to finish eighth and win the play-in game over Memphis for the right (as history suggests) to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
But inviting so many teams with little chance to qualify for the playoffs (look what Phoenix did), and inviting the Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference did not hide the real intent. The New Orleans Pelicans were supposed to be one of the play-in teams. Their schedule included games against the depleted Wizards, Memphis (the team they were chasing), Orlando (the final playoff qualifier in the Eastern Conference), and three games against teams below them in the Western Conference standings in San Antonio and Sacramento (twice). But the Pelicans only won two of their eight games, costing their head coach his gig and allowing Portland to slip in.
Finally, the play-in game was televised by ABC. Under normal circumstances, the only way ABC would televise a game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Portland Trailblazers is if it were a Western Conference final series, and it would have to be a Game Seven. Zion Williamson and the Pelicans were expected to be there. This was a season of lost opportunities for the league to feature Williamson on television.
THEY SHOULD BE ALMOST DONE BY NOW
The scrimmages and the seeding games are done and took nearly a month to play. We have the exact same Eastern Conference playoff pairings we would have seen had the league gone straight to postseason play in its regular format. The eighth seed in the Western Conference changed hands during bubble play, but it doesn’t make a difference. Fortunately, the virus hasn’t affected league personnel the way it has for baseball and football, but the season, including playoffs, should be almost done by now. But after a month of hoops and (despite the expected load management) some injuries to key players in meaningless games, the playoffs are upon us featuring four rounds spanning another two months.
Not sure what was accomplished over the last month of games, but most of the players should be home already. I’ll never agree with the idea of playing so many practice games (which is what they were) during a pandemic, but at least over the next two months, the games will finally mean something.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
