How do NBA tiebreakers work? Lakers’ tiebreakers for NBA Playoffs
By Jason Reed
The end of the 2022-23 season is right around the corner and the NBA Playoff picture is wild, especially in the Western Conference. There is a massive collection of teams near the bottom of the playoff picture that the Los Angeles Lakers are trying to fight there way through.
There is a good chance that tiebreakers are going to have to be used when it comes to playoff seeding this year. Here is everything you need to know for when that happens.
How to NBA tiebreakers work?
Tiebreakers in the NBA can be very simple but the more teams that are included and the more procedures that are needed can really complicate things. There are different procedures for the case of a two-way tie and a multi-team tie.
The tiebreakers are listed in order of their priority. If no. 1 is still a tie then it goes to no. 2 and so on.
Tiebreakers for two-way tie:
- Head-to-head record
- Division leader is favored if other team did not win their respective division
- Division winning percentage (only if in same division)
- Conference winning percentage
- Win-loss vs playoff teams in same conference
- Win-loss vs playoff teams in other conference
- Net points
Tiebreakers for multi-team ties:
- Division leader is favored if other teams did not win their respective divisions
- Winning percentage in all games involving tied teams
- Division winning percentage (only if every team is in the same division)
- Conference winning percentage
- Win-loss vs playoff teams in same conference
- Win-loss vs playoff teams in other conference
- Net points
The main difference between a two-way tie and a multi-team tie is that winning the division takes the ultimate precedent in a multi-way tie. Aside from that, the procedures are nearly identical.
Lakers’ tiebreaker status for the NBA Playoffs:
It can get really messy to predict what tiebreakers are going to be needed for the Los Angeles Lakers. It could impact the playoff seeding, which is very important with the NBA Play-In Tournament and how different a seventh or eighth seed is from a ninth or tenth seed.
It is also impossible to predict if it will be a two-way tie, a multi-team tie and who these ties are going to be with. For that reason, it is best to break down where the Lakers currently stand with each applicable team within two games of LA in the standings.
Lakers head-to-head record for playoff tiebreakers:
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 0-2 (Timberwolves own tiebreaker)
- Golden State Warriors: 3-1 (Lakers own tiebreaker)
- New Orleans Pelicans: 3-1 (Lakers own tiebreaker)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 2-1 (Lakers own tiebreaker)
- Dallas Mavericks: 1-3 (Mavericks own tiebreaker)
- Utah Jazz: 0-2 (Two games remain vs Jazz)
For the most part, the Lakers have taken care of business against most of the teams they need to take care of business against. The team does have one more game against the Timberwolves but Minnesota owns the tiebreaker no matter what.
LA also needs to beat the Jazz both times to make that tiebreaker equal out but if LA beats the Jazz twice then they won’t even be in a position to tie the Lakers.
But what about if it is a multi-way tie? That is where things can get a bit complicated. None of these teams are leading the division or are going to win their division, so Lakers fans don’t have to worry about that.
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The Lakers’ great record against the Warriors, Pelicans and Thunder puts the team in a great spot, though. If LA ties with any combination of those teams they are going to have the best record in applicable games, giving them the nod as the top seed.