A conference's two best teams won't meet in the 2nd round of the
playoffs, like the Mavericks and San Antonio did last season.
The 3 division champions in each conference and the team with the
next-best record will receive the top 4 playoff seeds. But the 4
teams will be seeded based on regular-season records.
2 other rule changes were also approved shortened timeouts and
expanded player rosters for the upcoming season.