I love the last day of the season, because it can remind us that the NBA randomly decides to care about divisions sometimes. Gone are the days when a division title automatically earns a team a top-four seed, but it can still play a part.
Let’s take Toronto, Orlando and Atlanta. If the Hawks lose in Miami — Atlanta is resting some key players, which they likely wouldn’t have if their spot was more at risk — and the Raptors and Magic beat the Nets and Celtics, respectively, they will tie for the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds at 46-36.
Let’s pretend Charlotte won 50 games and won the Southeast Division. In that case, the tie would be broken by the head-to-head records of the three teams. The Raptors (6-1) would get the fifth seed, the Hawks (6-6) would get the sixth seed and the Magic (1-6) would be seventh. For the same reason, the Raptors would win two-team ties with the Hawks or Magic.
However, the rules say a division winner wins all ties between three or more teams. The Hawks and Magic will be tied for the division lead, so that tie must be broken first, which Atlanta wins because they swept the season series with Orlando. So the Hawks finish fifth, and the Raptors get sixth because they won two out of three games against the Magic. Accordingly: 5. Atlanta; 6. Toronto; 7. Orlando.
Divisions: They matter. Rarely. And randomly.