KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Hollins’ take on seeding: Just win
Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins says he will find time to rest key players and won’t concern himself with playoff seeding.
But none of that means the Griz will try any less to win their remaining eight regular-season games.
Memphis boarded a flight Tuesday bound for Portland where it begins a threegame road trip embroiled in a three-team battle for third place in the Western Conference playoff standings.
Only 1 ½ games separate Memphis (50-24), Denver (50-24) and the Los Angeles Clippers (49-26), and their order of finish from the three to five seeds could easily come down to the last game.
The first four teams in standings generally are awarded home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Because they don’t own any tiebreakers, the Griz would have to finish with a better record than Denver and the Clippers to finish third. There is a scenario in which the Griz could be slotted fifth in the standings but still have home court.
“Whatever happens, happens,” Hollins said. “You
just have to go play and compete all the way until the end and see what happens. If you start playing around trying to get here and there, you don’t know what the teams below you are going to do. I try not to get into that stuff. We want to just keep improving as a team.”
So how is it that the Grizzlies could technically finish in fifth place yet still be awarded the home-court advantage in first-round action?
The winners of each division and the next team with the best overall record are awarded the first four seeds. Division winners are not guaranteed a top-three seed but cannot be seeded lower than fourth.
Division winners are not even guaranteed homecourt advantage in the first round. Home-court advantage goes to the teams with the best record, which isn’t always the team with the higher seed.
If the playoffs began today, the Grizzlies would be fifth while the Clippers would sit fourth only by virtue of their pending Pacific Division title. But the Griz own a better record than the Clippers, meaning their playoff series would begin in Memphis.
If Memphis ties the Clippers or Denver, then both teams would be awarded home court before the Griz due to tiebreaker advantages. The Clippers’ tiebreaker edge over the Griz is their division title. Denver’s tiebreaker advantage over Memphis is its 3-1 record in the season series.
“I don’t talk about it,” Hollins said. “You’re trying to win as many games as you can and finish the best place you can. You don’t worry about matchups you just want to play well and finish the season on a high note. When we get to the playoffs it’s more important that everybody is feeling good about themselves.”
By finishing as the third seed, the Grizzlies would have home-court advantage and play the No. 6 seed, currently the Golden State Warriors (42-32).
Tip-in: The Griz did not officially sign veteran guard Keyon Dooling on Tuesday as expected, but the deal will be finalized Wednesday once paperwork is completed, according to a source familiar with the situation. Dooling was in Memphis on Monday to meet with team executives and undergo a physical. He will be with the team on its three-game road trip, although his availability to play is uncertain. The combo guard retired before the season began, but decided to play again. Dooling announced on Twitter early Monday that he reached an agreement with the Grizzlies.