Determining The Higher Seed

NBA Tiebreaker Criteria for Regular Season Records

In the event of a tie in regular-season records involving only two teams, the following criteria will be used to determine the higher seed:

The team with the better head-to-head record against the tied team advances to the higher seed.

If the teams are tied in head-to-head record, the team with the better record within their division advances to the higher seed.

If the teams are tied in both head-to-head and division records, the team with the better record within their conference advances to the higher seed.

If the teams are still tied after all the above criteria, the team with the better overall record advances to the higher seed.