The Summer Spurs finished in 8th place in the Vegas NBA Summer League and move to straight to the Round of 16 where they will meet the Pelicans, who defeated the Hawks 92-84 earlier today in the first game of the Play-In Round.
What is the Play-in Round you ask? Good question. After the three game preliminary round, the teams are seeded 1-24. Seeds 9-24 play in eight games on Wednesday (currently underway) with seeds 1-8 going straight to the Round of 16 where they will play the winners of the play-in round.
So the Spurs are in the Round of 16 that’s great, but how did they finish in 8th place when there were six 3-0 teams and six teams with 2-1 records? Another good question. As per NBA Summer League rules:
In the case of a tie in preliminary round records involving more than two teams, the following criteria will be utilized in the following order:
• Quarter system points: team with the higher quarter point total receives the higher seed
• Point differential: the team with the better net result of total points scored less total points allowed against all opponents receives the higher seed
• Random drawing: higher seed shall be determined by a “coin-flip”
Since the Spurs and the Nets both had eight points under the quarter system, they were awarded the 7 and 8 seeds.
If the Nets and the Spurs both had eight quarter points, how come the Nets were given the 7th seed? Again, per NBA Summer League rules:
One or more (but not all) of the tied teams has a different quarter point total 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 the quarter point total criteria and then, point differential, if necessary.
The Nets 95-66 lopsided win over the Pelicans on Monday gave them the point differential edge over the Spurs.
The Spurs/Pelicans tips tomorrow, Thursday July 13th at 1pm PST. You can catch the game on NBA League Pass (TV is still TBD) and watch the #SummerofBryn continue.
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