系統升級

Brad Botkin

In 2015， the NBA made a relatively quiet change to its playoff structure， eliminating the automatic top-four seed for all division winners. The logic was， and remains， as sound as it is simple： Rewarding a lesser team for playing in a weaker division makes no sense. Why would rewarding a team from a lesser conference， or penalizing a team from a tougher conference for that matter， be any different？

2015年，NBA對季后賽賽制進行了一次微小的調整，取消了各賽區第一自動進入東西部前四的規定。背后的邏輯扎實又簡單：給在一個弱小賽區的較差球隊好處沒有道理可言。在這個問題上，回饋較差分區實力較弱的球隊和懲罰較強分區更強的球隊，究竟有什么區別？

The idea of going to a straight 1-16 playoff seeding， regardless of conference， has been a hotbutton topic among new-age fans for a while， if a back-burner one for the league. But its moving to the forefront. Commissioner Adam Silver has addressed the possibility with increasing regularity， and urgency， of late. On Saturday， the Celtics and the Rockets gave us a thrilling glimpse into what a wide-open playoff bracket could look like with arguably the best game of the season.

即便聯盟不重視，但無視東西部分區，直接按1到16號種子排名進行季后賽，已經是新一代球迷熱議的話題。現在，這個話題終于走到了前臺。總裁亞當·蕭華最近強調了提高規范和緊迫性的可能。周六，凱爾特人和火箭用一場堪稱賽季最佳的比賽，讓我們初窺開放型季后賽的魅力。

"Ive been saying this for like 10 years， man，" two-time NBA champion and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith told CBS Sports at All-Star weekend. "NBA fans dont care [about conferences]. They want to see the best two teams playing in the Finals."

“老兄，10年了我一直這么說。”兩屆NBA總冠軍，目前在TNT擔任解說的肯尼·史密斯全明星周末期間接受CBS體育采訪時表示，“NBA球迷不在乎（分區），他們想看到最好的兩支球隊打總決賽。”

You cant argue this. There isnt a basketball fan on earth that doesnt want to see the best two teams going at it for the title. Thats the purest part of sports. Now， you could say that in Cleveland and Golden State， weve gotten the best two teams in the Finals the last three years. You could even argue this is the case most years. What you cant argue is that the respective playoff roads traveled to get to that point have been anywhere near equal for close to 20 years.

這話沒錯。地球上還沒有哪個球迷不愿意看到最好的兩支球隊爭奪總冠軍，那是體育最純粹的部分。這種說法放在騎士和勇士身上是沒錯的，過去三年，我們看到了兩支最優秀的球隊在總決賽里競爭。你甚至可以說，大部分時候總決賽里都是兩支最好的球隊。但過去20年里，你不能說兩支球隊的總決賽之路難度是平等的。

With few exceptions， the West has been the collectively superior conference dating back as far as some of these young fans have been alive. Remember that 73-win Warriors team that lost in the Finals in 2016？ It had to go through a seven-game basketball war with Oklahoma City in the conference finals. If the Thunder， who had a 3-1 series lead if you recall， wouldve gotten past the Warriors， that wouldve been even more egregious.

除了少數例外，從一些年輕球迷出生時起，西部球隊的實力一直更為出眾。還記得輸掉2016年總決賽的73勝勇士嗎？他們先是在西部決賽里七場大戰突破了雷霆。如果你還記得，當時3比1領先的雷霆如果能擊敗勇士，那他們晉級總決賽所面臨的難度相比較是更大的。……