After controversy stemming from last year's playoffs seeding, the NBA is changing its format.

Under the change, the top four seeds -- the three division winners and the second-place team with the best record -- will be seeded according to their win-loss total, guaranteeing that the top two teams in each conference can't meet until the conference finals, the league announced Wednesday.

"I think it's a tweak, is what I'd call it, and it's probably a good one," said Jerry Colangelo, the former chairman of the league's Board of Governors. "Ultimately you want your best teams, the teams who have worked all season to put themselves in a position based on their records, to be seeded accordingly."

The NBA had given the top three seeds to division winners regardless of record, meaning a second-place team could not do better than the No. 4 seed, even if it had a better record than a division champion.

That rule came under fire last season when the Spurs met the Mavericks in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, even though the second-place Mavericks had a far better record than division champions Phoenix or Denver.