Problems with playing 82 games between December and April (in both NBA and NHL)

[trojanfan12]

Yes. Single elimination tournaments have high stakes. If you lose once, you're done. The NBA can have a team loose 12 times in the playoffs and still win a championship. So each game has pretty low stakes.

Depends on perspective.

There is no doubt that there is more pressure in single elimination tournaments. However, it's also over very quickly. In a 7 game series, the pressure builds gradually until you reach the point of an elimination game.

So, you get the buildup, then you (hopefully) get a game 7 which can actually have more drama and excitement because of the build up to it. Also, if you're lucky, you get situations like we just had with the Nuggets where a team gets behind 3-1 and then comes back to force a game 7. Those are fun because you have what looks like a series that's over and you end up getting the drama of 3 straight elimination games.

Also, while we all love underdogs and the upsets that can happen early in single elimination games...ultimately people want the 2 best teams in the finals. 7 game series tend to do a much better job of ensuring that outcome.

And of course, as @shopson67 mentioned, there is the money. The league would lose millions in revenue with a single elimination tournament.

 

[MaximumSam]

The only reasons for single elimination tournaments is the inability to play more than one game per week per team (football) and the sheer magnitude of teams involved (NCAA tournament). You also severely limit the profit made on said tournament. A single elimination NBA tournament would be over in 9 days (15 games total) and would sacrifice millions in potential revenue.

But watching high stakes basketball is exciting. Watching people make more money...not so much.