Kram Session: Eight Numbers to Know Ahead of the 2024 NBA Playoffs

Getty Images/AP Images/Ringer illustration Postseason seeding is completely up in the air, but here are the key facts and figures that define the field. Plus, we analyze Boston's historic conference lead and whether the sterling clutch résumés of the Mavs and Lakers mean anything for their playoff chances. I welcomed this week at a small park in a northern suburb of Indianapolis, where I'd traveled to watch the solar eclipse. The moon's blockage of the sun was a breathtaking spectacle and a beautiful reminder of the wonder of the natural world. But for everyone at my gathering, the eclipse delivered a basketball story as well. About half an hour before totality, a couple marched through the park, shouting at all the astronomy enthusiasts, "Repent or perish! The kingdom of heaven is upon us!" Eschatological message delivered, the couple then walked onto the park's basketball court, picked up a ball, and played one-on-one as the temperature dropped and the sky darkened around them. That's how I'd want to go, too—the "ball is life" philosophy, taken to the utter extreme. Thank you, fellow ball-is-lifers, for following along with the weekly Kram Session columns this...