Raptors clinch, Heat in play‑in
Toronto clinched a direct playoff spot and will avoid the Play‑In, while Miami landed inside the Eastern Play‑In field and must win there to reach the bracket. Bleacher Report and Yahoo's bracket rundowns list the Raptors as a direct seed and the Heat among the 7–10 play‑in teams. (bleacherreport.com, sports.yahoo.com)
Toronto is in the Eastern Conference bracket without touching the Play-In Tournament, while Miami must survive the extra round to get there. (nba.com) The National Basketball Association’s 2026 bracket shows Toronto as the No. 5 seed at 46-36, matched with the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. Miami finished 43-39 and landed as the No. 10 seed in the East play-in field. (nba.com) Toronto locked up its place Sunday, April 12, by beating Brooklyn 136-101 at Scotiabank Arena. Scottie Barnes posted 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the clinching win. (toronto.citynews.ca) Miami did not get one of the East’s six automatic berths. The Heat instead joined the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets in the play-in tournament for the conference’s last two playoff spots. (sports.yahoo.com) That split matters because the National Basketball Association sends seeds one through six straight to the playoffs, while seeds seven through 10 play for the final two spots. The league’s play-in page lists the event from April 14 through April 17, with the playoffs opening April 18. (nba.com) In the East bracket, the No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers face the No. 8 Orlando Magic, and the No. 9 Hornets face the No. 10 Heat. The winner of the 7-versus-8 game claims the No. 7 seed, while the loser gets one more game against the winner of 9-versus-10 for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) For Toronto, the finish completes a sharp turn after missing the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. CityNews called it the franchise’s first playoff berth in four years after the Raptors closed the regular season with the blowout over Brooklyn. (toronto.citynews.ca) For Miami, the road is narrower. USA Today’s play-in schedule lists Hornets-Heat for Wednesday, April 15, with the Heat needing that win to keep their season alive and then another win to reach the main bracket. (usatoday.com) The result is a clean divide in the East: Toronto gets a full first-round series against Cleveland, and Miami gets no series at all unless it plays its way in this week. (nba.com)
