Playoff picture tight
The NBA playoff field is set but seeding is still unsettled — the East is a knife fight for homecourt and play‑in spots while the Hawks have climbed to fifth on a win streak. (espn.com) The Warriors are officially locked into the Play‑In Tournament, raising the stakes for late‑season matchups and tiebreakers. (cbssports.com) League insiders are also debating three anti‑tanking draft‑lottery reforms ahead of an owners’ vote in May. (x.com)
The Hawks have won 14 of their last 15 games, a stretch the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says vaulted them into contention late in the season. (ajc.com) Atlanta’s 130-129 overtime victory over Detroit on March 25 pushed the club into a top-five slot in the East, with the AJC listing the team at 41-32 after that game. (ajc.com) The AJC noted that the Hawks hadn’t held a top-five spot this late in a season since Nov. 30, 2025, underscoring how rapid the surge has been. (ajc.com) Golden State clinched a play‑in berth with a 109-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets on March 25, a game the Associated Press reported left the Warriors at 35-38. (cbsnews.com) Memphis’s loss that same stretch of games officially eliminated the Grizzlies and, by mathematical consequence, locked the Warriors into a top‑10 Western Conference seed and the play‑in field. (hoopsrumors.com) The league’s official calendar sets the regular season to end April 12, the SoFi Play‑In Tournament to run April 14–17 and the first round of the playoffs to begin April 18. (nba.com) League sources outlined three distinct anti‑tanking proposals for an owners’ vote in May: (1) expand the lottery to 18 teams with the bottom 10 each given an equal 8% chance at No. 1; (2) expand to 22 teams and seed lottery odds via a two‑season record with a minimum‑win floor; and (3) a “five‑by‑five” plan that equalizes odds for the five worst teams and stages separate drawings for the top five and remaining picks. (espn.com)
