If the New Orleans Pelicans want to take over the NBA, they will first have to dominate their division, which won’t be easy.
The NBA postseason is much different from the other major U.S. sports in that the playoffs are not seeded by division and instead by overall conference standings.
While they don’t necessarily gain an advantage in the playoffs by winning their division, like a first round bye or hosting more home games in a series; teams play each division opponent four times over the course of a season.
This means teams like Milwaukee can pad their win totals by playing the Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, while Toronto has to face teams like Boston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn (when healthy).