With less than two weeks remaining in the 2013-14 NBA Regular Season, the Wine and Gold have fought themselves back into the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Along with Cleveland, the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks are the other teams battling for the eight seed.
Wednesday night's convincing Cavs victory compiled with Atlanta's loss to Chicago sets up a vital game between the Wine and Gold and the Hawks Friday night in the ATL. Click here to view the GameDay Preview.
As a dramatic home stretch rolls on, here is a full breakdown of the playoff picture with each teams' remaining schedule, tiebreaker information, probabilities and more:
EASTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
*Games remaining vs.Teams Over/Under .500 +Strength of Schedule looks at the opponents for your remaining games, their winning percentage on the road or at home, and whether or not either team is on the second night of a back-to-back.
With the Cavaliers win against Orlando, their playoff odds went up from 1.7% to 4.2%. If the Wine and Gold run the table and post a 6-0 record to close out the season, their probability of making the playoffs jumps to 64.9%. Here is a look at the Cavs probability based upon potential win-loss record in their final six games:
W-L and Probability
0-6 - 0.0%
1-5 - 0.0%
2-4 - 0.0%
3-3 - 0.1%
4-2 - 2.6%
5-1 - 21.3%
6-0 - 64.9%
As a result of Wednesday's games, the Knicks playoff odds went up from 10.6% to 21.6%. Assuming the Knicks lose to teams with a better record to close out the season (0-6), their probability of making the playoffs is 0.0%. Here is a look at New York's probability based upon potential win-loss record in their final six games:
W-L and Probability
0-6 - 0.0%
1-5 - 0.8%
2-4 - 7.9%
3-3 - 28.6%
4-2 - 58.4%
5-1 - 84.1%
6-0 - 97.0%
As a result of Wednesday's games, the Hawks playoff odds moved to 74.3%. Assuming the Hawks lose to teams with a better record to close out the season (4-4), their probability of making the playoffs is 81.6%. Here is a look at Atlanta's probability based upon potential win-loss record in their final eight games:
W-L and Probability
0-8 - 0.0%
1-7 - 0.7%
2-6 - 11.5%
3-4 - 46.0%
4-4 - 81.6%
5-3 - 96.5%
6-2 - 99.7%
7-1 - 100.0%
8-0 - 100.0%
Tiebreaker Information and Procedures
The playoffs seedings of Teams 5 to 8 are based upon regular-season record. Ties are broken pursuant to the rules set forth below.
Ties for playoff positions (including division winners) will be broken utilizing the criteria set forth in subparagraph a. below (in the case of ties involving two teams) and subparagraph b. below (in the case of ties involving more than two teams), and the guidelines set forth in subparagraph c. below.
a. Two Teams Tied
(1) Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division.
(2) Better winning percentage in games against each other.
(3) Better winning percentage against teams in own division (only if tied teams are in same division).
(4) Better winning percentage against teams in own conference.
(5) Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in own conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position).
(6) Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in opposite conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position).
(7) Better net result of total points scored less total points allowed against all opponents (“point differential”).
b. More Than Two Teams Tied
(1) Division leader wins tie from team not leading a division.
(2) Better winning percentage in all games among the tied teams.
(3) Better winning percentage against teams in own division (only if all tied teams are in the same division).
(4) Better winning percentage against teams in own conference.
(5) Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in own conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position).
(6) Better net result of total points scored less total points allowed against all opponents (“point differential”).
c. Guidelines For Applying Tie-Break Criteria. The following guidelines shall be used when applying the above criteria to break ties for playoff positions:
(1) (a) Since the three division winners are guaranteed a spot in the top four, ties to determine the division winners must be broken before any other ties.
(b) When a tie must be broken to determine a division winner, the results of the tie-break shall be used to determine only the division winner and its playoff position, not any other playoff position(s).
(2) If a tie involves more than two teams, the tie-break criteria in subparagraph b. shall be applied in the order set forth therein until the first to occur of the following:
(a) Each of the tied teams has a different winning percentage or point differential under the applicable tiebreak criterion (a “complete” breaking of the tie). In this circumstance, the team with the best winning percentage or point differential under the criterion will be awarded the best playoff position, the team with the next-best winning percentage or point differential will be awarded the next-best playoff position, and so on, and no further application of the tie-break criteria will be required.
~OR~
(b) One or more (but not all) of the tied teams has a different winning percentage or point differential under the applicable tie-break criterion (a “partial” breaking of the tie). In this circumstance: (x) any team(s) that performed better under the applicable criterion than any other team(s) will be awarded a higher playoff position than such other team(s); and (y) teams that had equivalent performance under the applicable criterion will remain tied, and such remaining tie(s) will be broken by applying, from the beginning, the criteria in subparagraph a.(1)-(6) above (for any remaining tie involving only two teams) or subparagraph b.(1)-(5) above (for any remaining tie involving more than two teams) and the guidelines set forth in this subparagraph c.
(3) If application of the criteria in subparagraph a. or b. does not result in the breaking of a tie, the playoff positions of the tied teams will be determined by a random drawing.
d. Home Court Advantage:For purposes of home court advantage, ties will be broken pursuant to the procedures used for breaking two-team ties for playoff position.