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NBA: Who’s Going To Win The No. 2 Seed In The West?

By Gerald Bourguet

Apr 10, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles the ball as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) defends during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. The Spurs won 104-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles the ball as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) defends during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. The Spurs won 104-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 4, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33) controls the ball during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Grizzlies defeated the Rockets 102-100. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Tiebreakers

What happens if two or more of these teams wind up with the same record? Well, that’s where the tiebreakers come into play. In order to try and sort out the mess, here’s a look at how each team has fared against the others, which would be the first head-to-head tiebreaker:

  • San Antonio Spurs: 2-2 vs. Grizzlies, 3-1 vs. Rockets, 2-2 vs. Clippers
  • Houston Rockets: 1-3 vs. Spurs, 2-2 vs. Clippers, 2-2 vs. Grizzlies
  • Memphis Grizzlies: 2-2 vs. Spurs, 2-2 vs. Clippers, 2-2 vs. Rockets
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 2-2 vs. Spurs, 2-2 vs. Grizzlies, 2-2 vs. Rockets

Not much help there. As you can see, the only clear winner of the head-to-head tiebreaker is Spurs vs. Rockets, where San Antonio owns the tiebreaker. If you’re a Spurs fan, you should be cheering for Houston in the last two games of the season.

For those of you wondering, the next tiebreaker would be division record, which is why the Spurs (8-7 division record) would want a tiebreaker they own against Houston instead of a tiebreaker against the Grizzlies (9-7 division record).

But wait, you’re thinking. If the Spurs beat the Pelicans, a team in their division, wouldn’t they move to 9-7 and tie Memphis in that regard? Yes, that’s true. But the next tiebreaker after that would be conference record and Memphis (35-16) has already locked up that decisive advantage over San Antonio (32-19).

For the Rockets to get the No. 2 seed, they’d have to win out and they’d need the Clippers and Grizzlies to each lose one of their remaining two games. Why? Their 8-8 division record doesn’t stack up to Los Angeles (11-4) or Memphis (9-7).

Unfortunately for the Clippers, even if they win out, they’d need to finish with a better record than all three of their competitors. Since the Warriors have locked up the Pacific Division, the first tiebreaker facing the Clippers would be division winners. If they’re tied with the Rockets, Grizzlies or Spurs, a non-division winner would not own the tiebreaker over whoever wins the Southwest Division, and that team would get the No. 2 seed.

For the Grizzlies, it’s simple: win out and get the No. 2 seed. They own the division record tiebreaker over the Rockets, they hold the conference record tiebreaker over the Spurs and they would jump the Clippers in the event of a tie as the Southwest Division winners.

Next: Predictions