NBA Playoff Picture Set

The National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference bracket is set through the top six, and the play-in tournament starts Tuesday, April 14. (nba.com) Detroit finished first in the East at 59-22, followed by Boston at 55-26, New York at 53-28 and Cleveland at 51-30. Atlanta and Toronto also avoided the play-in by locking up the last two automatic playoff spots. (nba.com) The four East play-in teams are Orlando, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Miami, with the league’s play-in format reserved for teams that finish seventh through 10th. The tournament runs April 14 through April 17, and the full playoffs begin April 18. (nba.com; nba.com) In the play-in, the seventh-place team faces the eighth-place team for the No. 7 seed, while the ninth-place team hosts the 10th-place team in an elimination game. The loser of the 7-versus-8 game then hosts the winner of the 9-versus-10 game for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) The East field shifted on the final day of the regular season, with Toronto moving into the No. 5 line and Philadelphia climbing to No. 7, according to Yahoo Sports’ postgame bracket update. That left the first-round pairings in the East partly dependent on the play-in results. (sports.yahoo.com; nba.com) The official bracket shows Detroit waiting for the eventual No. 8 seed, Boston waiting for the No. 7 seed, New York matched with Toronto and Cleveland matched with Atlanta. Those two series are already fixed because the top-six order is complete. (nba.com) The timeline is tight: the regular season ended Sunday, April 12, postseason rosters were set Monday, April 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern, and the first play-in games are on Tuesday night. The National Basketball Association Finals are scheduled to open June 3. (nba.com; nba.com) For the East, that means the standings fight is over and the bracket math is mostly done. The only remaining question is which two of the four play-in teams survive to join Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Atlanta and Toronto in the first round. (nba.com; nba.com)