Playoff picture tightens
The NBA regular season hit its final day with playoff seeding still shifting — 10 teams have already clinched spots, the East’s top four were locked on Friday, and the Knicks remain alive to claim the No. 2 seed. (cbssports.com) Teams in the West were still jockeying for No. 3 and No. 4 while the Play‑In Tournament — where teams finishing 7th–10th fight for the last berths — starts Tuesday, so a few games will materially change first‑round matchups. (sports.yahoo.com) (usatoday.com)
The National Basketball Association got all the way to the last day of the regular season with one playoff berth in the East still unsettled and the middle of the West still moving, so Sunday’s games can still change who opens at home and who gets thrown into the Play-In Tournament. The league’s Play-In Tournament starts on April 14, and the full playoffs start on April 18. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) Ten teams had already clinched top-six playoff spots by Friday night: the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves in the West, plus the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks in the East. That left one direct East berth still open and several West seed lines still loose. (nba.com) (cbssports.com) In the East, the top of the bracket stopped moving Friday when Boston locked in No. 2, New York was fixed at No. 3, and Cleveland was fixed at No. 4. Detroit had already secured No. 1, so the only real East fight left was the line between the last guaranteed playoff spot and the Play-In Tournament. (cbssports.com) (nba.com) Atlanta’s win over Cleveland did two things at once: it gave the Hawks a top-six berth and put them in position to claim No. 5 with a win over Miami on Sunday. Toronto, Orlando and Philadelphia were still tangled behind them, with different tie combinations deciding who gets No. 6 and who has to survive the extra week. (cbssports.com) (nba.com) Charlotte’s loss to Detroit locked the Hornets into the East’s 9-versus-10 Play-In game against Miami on Wednesday, April 15. The only piece still moving there was home court, because Charlotte gets the No. 9 seed and hosts if it beats New York on Sunday or if Miami loses to Atlanta. (cbssports.com) (nba.com) The West is cleaner at the top and messier in the middle. Oklahoma City had already locked up No. 1, San Antonio had already locked up No. 2, but Denver and the Lakers were still swapping the No. 3 and No. 4 lines that decide who gets home court in a 3-versus-6 or 4-versus-5 series. (nba.com) (cbssports.com) Friday’s results gave the Lakers a top-four seed and froze Houston at No. 5 after the Rockets lost to Minnesota. Los Angeles could still climb to No. 3 by beating Utah on Sunday and getting a Denver loss to San Antonio, which would flip the first-round pairing from Lakers-Rockets to Nuggets-Rockets. (cbssports.com) (nba.com) The bottom of the West is even tighter because the 7-through-10 teams feed directly into the Play-In Tournament. Phoenix was sitting at No. 7, Portland jumped to No. 8 by beating the Clippers, the Clippers fell to No. 9, and Golden State was No. 10 entering the last day. (nba.com) (cbssports.com) That matters because No. 7 and No. 8 get a safety net and No. 9 and No. 10 do not. On April 14, the 7 seed hosts the 8 seed and the winner goes straight into the playoffs as No. 7, while on April 15 the 9 seed hosts the 10 seed and the loser is eliminated that night. (nba.com) Portland could lock up No. 8 with a win over Sacramento on Sunday or a Clippers loss to Golden State, which would leave the Clippers and Warriors in the do-or-die 9-versus-10 game. If those results flip, the entire West Play-In bracket shifts with them, and so do the first-round opponents waiting at No. 1 Oklahoma City and No. 2 San Antonio. (cbssports.com) (nba.com) The reason a single Sunday game can still scramble the board is the National Basketball Association’s tiebreak system. If teams finish with the same record, the league goes first to head-to-head results, then to division-winner status, then to division and conference records, and only later to records against playoff teams and net points. (nba.com) So the last day is not just about who gets in. It is about whether Boston sees Orlando or Philadelphia, whether Detroit gets a weaker No. 8 path, whether Denver or the Lakers opens with Minnesota or Houston, and whether the Clippers or Warriors have to play a one-loss-and-you’re-done game before the real bracket even starts. (nba.com) (cbssports.com)
