NBA playoff format is optimizing competitive balance by eliminating travel
Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - 11:01
in Mathematics & Economics
In addition to helping protect players from COVID-19, the NBA 'bubble' in Orlando may be a competitive equalizer by eliminating team travel. Researchers analyzing the results of nearly 500 NBA playoff games over six seasons found that a team's direction of travel and the number of time zones crossed were associated with its predicted win probability and actual game performance.