Under the NBA's new rules, teams ranked 1-6 in the regular season can directly enter the playoffs, while teams ranked 7-10 will compete in the play-in tournament for the final two spots, and 11-15 will end the season.
That is, the top 6 can enter the playoffs, and the 7-10 have a chance to make the playoffs.
The NBA regular season is generally 82 games, and after 82 games, the teams are ranked 1-15 in the East and West according to their records. The rankings are based on the following order:
1. The team with a high winning rate is ranked high. For example, the Lakers are 63-19 and the Nuggets are 62-20, and the Lakers will be ahead of the Nuggets.
2. When the two teams have the same winning rate, this first compares each other's records, and the best records of each other are ranked high, for example, the Lakers and the Nuggets have the same record, but the Nuggets 3-1 Lakers in the regular season, then the Nuggets are in front of the Lakers.
3. When the records of each other are also the same, if one of them is the division champion, the division champion will be first.
4. If both teams are divisional champions or neither divisional champions, and the two teams are in the same division, the record in the division will be compared, and the winning rate will be higher.
5. If the two teams are not in the same division or have the same winning percentage in the division, continue to compare the record in the league, and the highest winning rate will be the first.
6. Further down are the record against the playoff teams in the league, the record against the playoff teams in other leagues, and the total goal difference in the season.
If multiple teams have the same win rate, then first see whether they are the division champions, and the division champions are first, and then compare each other's records, and compare them in the order above.
In general, you can distinguish between high and low by point 5.
After the regular season standings are determined, the East 1-6 and West 1-6 will go directly to the playoffs, while the East 7-10 and West 7-10 will play the play-offs to compete for the last two spots.
The rules of the play-offs are (take the East as an example, the same as the West):
7th in the East vs 8th in the East, the winner enters the playoffs and is ranked 7th and will play 2nd in the East.
9th in the East vs 10th in the East, the loser is out, the winner plays the last game against the loser in 7th and 8th, and the winning side enters the playoffs and is in 8th place and will play 1st in the East.
In these three play-off games, the teams that are higher in the regular season standings have home advantage.
Therefore, ranking 7th in the regular season may not enter the playoffs, and entering the playoffs may not be against 2nd, such as the 22-23 season when the Heat ranked 7th, but lost to the 8th Hawks in the first game of the play-offs, and then defeated the Bulls, but faced the 1st Bucks in the playoffs.
The NBA play-off rules are implemented from the 2019-2020 season, but the rules for the 2019-2020 season are different, and from the 2020-2021 season, the play-off rules are unified with the above rules.
In the first 3 seasons of play-off execution (2021-2023), there have been cases where the 9th-ranked team has made the playoffs, such as the Grizzlies in 9th place in the West in 2021, the Spurs in 10th place and the Warriors in 8th place in a row to squeeze into the playoffs. The Pelicans, who are ranked 9th in the West in 2022, have defeated the Spurs in 10th place and the Clippers in 8th place in consecutive ways to squeeze into the playoffs.
The addition of play-off rules has made it more likely for NBA teams to compete for the playoffs, so it can reduce the degree of rot to a certain extent, but there has not been a 10th counterattack into the playoffs, nor has there been a 7th place to be squeezed out of the playoffs.