Last night the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers both wrapped up their respective first round playoff series to advance to the next round. Now both will face each other in the Western Conference Semifinals that begin next Monday.

The schedule has been released and as I was adding it to my calendar, I couldn’t help but notice how many games will overlap a Texas Rangers game.  3 of the first 4 games overlap Rangers games, as well as game 7 — if the series goes that long. Games 5 and 6 are TBD.

The #2 LA Lakers vs #3 Dallas Mavericks West Semifinals schedule: 

  
Ladies, to better help you better understand the playoffs, review these quick facts, record and statistics below, provided by Wikipedia. 

NBA Playoffs Quick Facts:

  • Following the regular season, 16 teams qualify for the playoffs
  • 8 teams from the Eastern Conference and 8 from the Western Conference
  • The 8 teams in each conference are seeded one to eight
  • The playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament 
  • Winners of the Conference Semifinals advance to the Conference Finals
  • The winners of the conference finals advance to the Finals – the ultimate goal for each team each season
  • Playoffs are played in a “best-of-seven” series.
  • The playoffs are played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format – the home team hosts games 1, 2, 5 and 7; the opponent hosts games 3, 4 and 6
  • Games 5-7 are only played if needed.
  • The Finals are played in a 2-3-2 format – the home team hosts games 1, 2, 6 and 7; the opponent hosts games 3, 4 and 5.
  • The home team is determined in both rounds by record regardless of seed.

Records and Statistics

  • Only three 8th seeded teams have managed to win a series versus the number 1 seeded team
  • The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Seattle SuperSonics 3-2 in 1994
  • The New York Knicks eliminated the Miami Heat 3-2 in 1999 (which was a lockout shortened season),
  • The Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 in the 2007 First Round, becoming the first 8 seed to beat a 1 seed in the best of 7 format.
  • The 1999 Knicks are the only 8th seeded team ever to reach the NBA Finals.
  • The 1994-95 Houston Rockets, a sixth seed, were the lowest seeded team to win the NBA Finals.
  • In the 1994-95 Finals, the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic (57-25) in four games.
  • The San Antonio Spurs own the longest NBA Playoff winning streak for a single postseason with 12 straight wins in the 1999 
     Playoffs and a 15-2 finish overall.
  • The Los Angeles Lakers own the most dominant post-season appearance with a 15-1 record in the 2001 Playoffs; they also have the second-longest playoff-game win streak with 11 in that season.
  • Of all the teams with multiple NBA Finals appearances, the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs are the only teams with perfect records at 6-0 and 4-0, respectively. 
  • The Boston Celtics possess the most overall NBA Finals series wins with an overall record of 17-4.
  • The Los Angeles Lakers have played in the most NBA Finals series (31) with an overall record of 16-15.
  • The longest playoff appearance streak currently belongs to the San Antonio Spurs at 14 appearances, with the Dallas Mavericks next in line with 11.
  • The longest ever streak of playoffs appearances in a row belongs to the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers, who made the playoffs 22 straight years from the 1949-50 season to the 1970-71 season, while the longest playoff appearance streak in one city belonged to the Portland Trail Blazers, who made it for 21 straight years, from the 1982-83 to the 2002-03 seasons.