NBA divisional champions will no longer be guaranteed home-court advantage in their opening round of the post-season after a seeding shake-up was announced by the league chiefs.

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Under a new system to be launched this season, teams in the playoffs will be seeded according to their regular season record.

Previously, the three division winners in each conference along with the non-division winner that boasted the best record were installed as the top four seeds in the first round of playoffs.

In a further change, teams with the same overall record will be ranked according to their head-to-head record rather than whether the team won its division, flipping the format from previous seasons.

Last season the Portland Trail Blazers, winners of the Northwest Division, were seeded four in the Western Conference despite having the sixth best record. Under the new seeding system they would be ranked sixth.

Winning the division now will only matter for the playoffs as a secondary tie-breaker which may rarely be needed.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver hinted at the reform during the summer, saying the league was leaning towards decreasing the weight of winning divisions “in part because it’s so unlikely to happen, and two, if it does happen it would be potentially confusing to fans. Thirdly you would be displacing a team that did have a top-eight record.”

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers had said in April: “I think the divisions are important. They’re nice to have. They’re nice to be celebrated, for some and some not, but I don’t know if they should be celebrated as far as in the standings.”