Five teams eliminated
The New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, and Sacramento Kings were eliminated from playoff contention as the regular season closed. (oklahoman.com). That finality reshapes the West’s remaining matchups and clears several roster decisions heading into offseason planning. (oklahoman.com)
Five Western Conference teams finished the regular season Sunday with no path into the 2026 postseason: New Orleans, Memphis, Dallas, Sacramento and Utah. (nba.com) The final Western play-in field is set at Phoenix in seventh, Portland in eighth, Los Angeles Clippers in ninth and Golden State in 10th. Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston and Minnesota already hold the conference’s six direct playoff spots. (nba.com) New Orleans ended 26-55, Memphis 25-56, Dallas 25-56, Sacramento 22-59 and Utah 22-59 in the standings published after Sunday’s games. Those records left all five outside the top 10 cutoff for the SoFi National Basketball Association Play-In Tournament. (espn.com) The National Basketball Association’s format sends seeds seven through 10 in each conference to a four-team play-in for the last two playoff berths. In the West, that means Phoenix will host Portland in the 7-versus-8 game, while the Clippers host Golden State in the 9-versus-10 game starting April 14. (nba.com) The bracket above the play-in is also locked in. Denver drew Minnesota in the 3-versus-6 series, and the Lakers drew Houston in the 4-versus-5 series, with the first round opening April 18. (nba.com) Oklahoma City finished 64-17 and San Antonio 62-19, giving both teams a week to wait for opponents while the play-in decides the seventh and eighth seeds. The Thunder will face the final No. 8 seed, and the Spurs will face the final No. 7 seed. (nba.com) For the five eliminated teams, Sunday’s standings turned the calendar from scoreboard watching to offseason planning. The league’s own standings page now lists each of them with the elimination marker, while Phoenix, Portland, the Clippers and Golden State carry play-in status instead. (nba.com) The West entered the final day with only two seeding questions left near the playoff line: Denver versus the Lakers for No. 3, and Portland versus the Clippers for No. 8. By Sunday night, those races were resolved and the bottom five were out. (nba.com) That left the conference with a clean split: six teams resting for best-of-seven series, four teams alive in the play-in, and five teams already done for the year. The games resume Tuesday, but for New Orleans, Memphis, Dallas, Sacramento and Utah, the season ended Sunday. (nba.com)
