After looking into it I feel like I understand all the specifics of the tournament except one thing. The teams that make the knockout stages will undoubtedly have a (very slightly) more difficult regular season schedule as a result of the knockout round games. I know that might seem like a marginal change, but a 1/2 game swing could definitely affect a fringe teams playoffs chances. Is this just considered a wash or is there something done in the schedule to compensate for it?
there’s a way to plan the schedule so it wouldn’t affect it, but the nba has always prioritised other things over a fair strength of schedule