Success in the NBA's in-season tournaments could become a factor in playoff tiebreakers as early as next season, the league told teams in a memo after Friday's meeting with the competition committee.
At the same press conference, the league said it had not ordered players to commit fewer fouls to reduce points. Fouls, points scored, and free throw attempts per game have all decreased significantly since the All-Star break. Entering Friday, scoring was down 3.5% compared to pre-break numbers, and free throw attempts were down about 12.6%.
The tournament changes being discussed, which have not yet been finalized, call for the NBA Cup advancement round to be the first tiebreaker in the playoffs, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
Such a move will likely increase the weight of the in-season tournament called the NBA Cup starting next season. All games in the tournament count toward the regular season standings, except for the championship game. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated Indiana in the finals of the first in-season tournament in December, but neither team's record was taken into account in this game.
Another change to the tournament table is that extra-time scores during group play will no longer be factored into point spread, which could affect tie-breaks. The league informed each team that it is considering a plan to calculate the difference in extra innings as zero, which would prevent any team from intentionally forcing a game into overtime in hopes of manipulating the difference.
commissioner adam silver He has said multiple times this season that he expects changes to be made after the first tournament. Among the things being talked about is adjusting the schedule to avoid conflicts with the NFL on Monday and Thursday nights. That was the case with this year's playoff schedule.
“There's no question about it, it's not ideal for a number of reasons,” Silver said late last year.
The league asked the competition committee for feedback on the proposed tournament changes.
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