Nelson believes playoff formula should change
With the prospect that his team could win 50 games and still end up in the draft lottery, Golden State coach Don Nelson believes it’s time the NBA got rid of conference ties and took the best 16 teams for the playoffs.
The Warriors (47-32) headed into the weekend one game behind the Denver Nuggets in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with three games remaining.
Golden State could win its final three games to reach the 50-win mark and still miss the playoffs if Denver wins two of its final three games. No matter what happens between now and Wednesday, the ninth-place team will be the one with the most wins to miss the playoffs in the 16-team format. The Houston Rockets held the previous mark with 45 wins in 2000-01.
“There are two things that are not fair,” Nelson said. “For somebody to win as many games as it’s going to be and miss the playoffs that’s not fair. The other thing that’s not fair is to win that many games and to be in the lottery. There’s two ways to look at it. Neither one is fair. That team shouldn’t be a lottery team. That team should be, not an elite team, but one of the good teams.”
Golden State would have a less than 1 percent chance at winning the lottery, but could end up picking ahead of some of the NBA’s worst teams.
Nelson’s good friend and competitor for eighth place, Nuggets coach George Karl, agrees with his former mentor. The Warriors would be in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, where at least one team will make the playoffs with a losing record.
“I sure would like it now,” Karl said of a different format. “I think the divisions and conference circumstance is for the old people, the old-school type of league. I think everyone was concerned about travel, but now with our private chartering of jets, it might be something to consider.”
Nuggets guard Allen Iverson said whichever team misses out on the playoffs should not be considered a failure.
“Regardless of what happens, those guys if they don’t get in should hold their heads up high,” Iverson said. “Not too many teams win 47, 48, 50 games.”