The one rule that decides virtually every NBA champion won't be broken this year

These NBA playoffs have defied conventional wisdom about what works in the postseason. But one thing is still true about what it takes to be champion.

These NBA playoffs have defied conventional wisdom about what works, and what doesn’t, in the postseason.

Double-digit comebacks? Playing on the road? Inexperience? Neither has been an impediment for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, who have overcome each to make the NBA Finals. The Thunder have the second-youngest roster to have made the Finals in the last 70 years. The Pacers, meanwhile, have thrived on the road and are winning despite historically low odds.

Amid all that upheaval, however, one rule remains unchanged: To win an NBA title, a top-four seed is all but a requirement.

This season’s Finals are the 79th in the league’s history. Of the previous 78 championships, 77 were won by top-four seeds.

The latest finalists meet that criterion. Oklahoma City finished the regular season with the West’s top seed, while Indiana was fourth.