NBA seedings finalised
The NBA regular season finished with the Denver Nuggets locked in as the No. 3 seed in the West and the Los Angeles Lakers securing the No. 4 seed. (usatoday.com) The Play‑In Tournament field and schedule were also set, with the play‑in scheduled to begin in two days from the April 12 report. (usatoday.com)
The National Basketball Association postseason bracket is set after the regular season ended on April 12, with Denver at No. 3 and Los Angeles at No. 4 in the Western Conference. (nba.com) The top six teams in each conference advanced straight to the first round, while the teams seeded seventh through 10th moved into the SoFi Play-In Tournament on April 14-17. The full playoffs begin on April 18. (nba.com) In the West, Oklahoma City finished first at 64-18, San Antonio second at 62-20, Denver third at 54-28, the Lakers fourth at 53-29, Houston fifth at 52-30 and Minnesota sixth at 49-33. Phoenix, Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State filled the four play-in spots. (nba.com) That locked in two Western Conference first-round series before the play-in even starts: Lakers-Rockets in the 4-5 matchup and Nuggets-Timberwolves in the 3-6 matchup. Oklahoma City and San Antonio will wait for the two play-in survivors. (espn.com) The play-in is a four-team, two-step mini-tournament in each conference. The No. 7 seed hosts No. 8 for one playoff berth, and the No. 9 seed hosts No. 10 in an elimination game; the losers and winners from those games then meet for the final No. 8 seed. (nba.com) In the Western play-in, Phoenix hosts Portland on Tuesday, April 14, and the Clippers host Golden State on Wednesday, April 15. All play-in games will stream on Prime Video, according to the league schedule. (nba.com) The Eastern Conference bracket is also partly fixed: Detroit finished first at 60-22, Boston second at 56-26, New York third at 53-29, Cleveland fourth at 52-30, Toronto fifth at 46-36 and Atlanta sixth at 46-36. Philadelphia, Orlando, Charlotte and Miami moved into the East play-in. (nba.com) That leaves four postseason spots still unresolved on April 13: the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each conference. By Friday night, the 16-team playoff field will be complete and every first-round matchup will be on the board. (nba.com)
