NBA bracket locks in

Portland grabbed the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed on Tuesday night, while Detroit enters the playoffs as the East’s top seed at 60-22. (nba.com) The Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns 114-110 in the 7-versus-8 play-in game on April 14, sending Portland straight into a first-round series against the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs. (nba.com) Detroit finished 60-22 and locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, which gives the Pistons home court in a first-round series that starts Sunday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern at Little Caesars Arena. (freep.com) The National Basketball Association’s play-in tournament is a four-team bracket in each conference for seeds seven through 10. The winner of the 7-versus-8 game becomes the No. 7 seed, and the loser gets one more chance against the winner of the 9-versus-10 game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) That format left two spots unsettled after Tuesday. In the East, the Charlotte Hornets beat the Miami Heat 127-126 in overtime to advance, and in the West, the Suns dropped into an elimination game after losing to Portland. (cbssports.com) The bracket around Detroit is partly set already: the New York Knicks drew the Atlanta Hawks in the 3-versus-6 series, and the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the Toronto Raptors in the 4-versus-5 series. Boston, the East’s No. 2 seed at 56-26, is still waiting on the No. 7 winner. (nba.com) The West is further along at the top. Oklahoma City finished No. 1 at 64-18, San Antonio took No. 2 at 62-20, and Portland’s win locked in Spurs-Trail Blazers as one of the four first-round matchups already on the board. (nba.com) The calendar moves quickly from here. The play-in runs through Friday, April 17, and the first round opens Saturday, April 18, with Detroit beginning a day later on Sunday night in its first home Game 1 as a No. 1 seed in this run. (nba.com, freep.com)