If you have the best record...

Question
If you have the best record in the nba and you are going into the
playoffs, how long do you get homecourt advantage?


Answer
Hello Henry,

Here is the Playoff review..I believe the team with the best record keeps the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, as long they keep winning there series.

Basketball: NBA Playoffs 2006 preview main | injuries | playoffs | transfers | preview

2005/2006 NBA Regular Season ends on April 19. NBA Playoffs 2006 begin only three days later, on April 22.

Regular season standings:

Eastern Conference
Detroit Pistons 78.0 64-18
Miami Heat 63.4 52-30
New Jersey Nets 59.8 49-33
Cleveland Cavaliers 61.0 50-32
Washington Wizards 51.2 42-40
Indiana Pacers 50.0 41-41
Chicago Bulls 50.0 41-41
Milwaukee Bucks 48.8 40-42

Philadelphia 76-ers 46.3 38-44
Orlando Magic 43.9 36-46
Boston Celtics 40.2 33-49
Toronto Raptors 32.9 27-55
Charlotte Bobcats 31.7 26-56
Atlanta Hawks 31.7 26-56
New York Knicks 28.0 23-59
 
Western Conference
San Antonio Spurs 76.8 63-19
Phoenix Suns 65.9 54-28
Denver Nuggets 53.7 44-38
Dallas Mavericks 73.2 60-22
Memphis Grizzlies 59.8 49-33
Los Angeles Clippers 57.3 47-35
Los Angeles Lakers 54.9 45-37
Sacramento Kings 53.7 44-38

Utah Jazz 50.0 41-41
New Orleans Hornets 46.3 38-44
Seattle Supersonics 42.7 35-47
Golden State Warriors 41.5 34-48
Houston Rockets 41.5 34-48
Minnesota Timberwolves 40.2 33-49
Portland Trailblazers 25.6 21-61


Sixteen teams qualify for the NBA Playoffs, 8 from the Eastern and 8 from the Western conferences. The three division winners in each conference earn the conference's top three playoff seeds. The division winner with the best record is ranked #1. Remaining five teams are ranked according to their won-lost ratio, regardless of divisional alignment.

Eastern Conference  Western Conference


#1 Detroit           San Antonio #1
   vs                   vs
#8 Milwaukee         Sacramento #8
         
#5 Washington        Memphis #5
     vs                vs
#4 Cleveland         Dallas #4
        
#3 New Jersey        Denver #3
     vs                vs
#6 Indiana           LA Clippers #6
          
#7 Chicago           LA Lakers #7
    vs                  vs
#2 Miami             Phoenix #2


#1 in each conference will play #8 in their conference, #2 plays #7, #3 plays #6 and #4 plays #5. In the Conference Semifinals, the winner of #1 vs. #8 plays the winner of #4 vs. #5, and the winner of #2 vs. #7 plays the winner of #3 vs. #6. The winners of the Conference Semifinals then meet in the Conference Finals. Winners in the Eastern and Western conferences advancing to the NBA Finals.

NBA pages
Main NBA page - statistics, news, predictions ...
NBA injured list - with statistics for each player
NBA Playoffs 2006 preview
NBA trades and transfers
NBA 2005/2006 season preview - key players, titles, 2005 standings

  NBA tie-breaking procedure
In the event that two teams are tied in the standings, a series of tiebreakers is applied to determine playoff position:

a. Results of games against each other.
b. Higher winning percentage in conference games.
c. Higher winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division).
d. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference.
e. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in opposite conference.
f. Higher point differential between points scored and points allowed.


Playoffs format
All rounds of the NBA Playoffs are best-of-7 games. This means, the team that is the first to win four games out of seven is the winner of that round. The First Round, the Conference Semifinals and the Conference Finals are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The NBA Finals are played on a 2-3-2 basis. Teams with the better record during the regular season gained home-court advantage.

2005 Playoffs results
first round:

Boston Celtics - Indiana Pacers 3:4
Miami Heat - New Jersey Nets 4:0
Chicago Bulls - Washington Wizards 2:4
Detroit Pistons - Philadelphia 76ers 4:1
Dallas Mavericks - Houston Rockets 4:3
San Antonio Spurs - Denver Nuggets 4:1
Phoenix Suns - Memphis Grizzlies 4:0
Seattle Supersonics Sacramento Kings 4:1

conference semifinals:

Miami Heat - Washington Wizards 4:0
San Antonio Spurs - Seattle Supersonics 4:2
Detroit Pistons - Indiana Pacers 4:2
Phoenix Suns - Dallas Mavericks 4:2

conference finals:

Miami Heat - Detroit Pistons 3:4
Phoenix Suns - San Antonio Spurs 1:4

finals:

San Antonio Spurs - Detroit Pistons 4:3