Playoffs locked; Play‑In starts
The NBA regular season ended and the playoff bracket is set, with the Play‑In Tournament scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 14. ( ). Notable seed movement saw the Denver Nuggets clinch the No. 3 seed while the Los Angeles Lakers landed at No. 4 as commentators turn to first‑round matchup analysis. ( )
The National Basketball Association postseason field is set, and the Play-In Tournament opens Tuesday, April 14, with four spots in the bracket still up for grabs. (nba.com) The Play-In runs from April 14 through April 17, and the first round starts Saturday, April 18. The league’s official schedule lists Charlotte Hornets versus Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns versus Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, then Philadelphia 76ers versus Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers versus Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. (nba.com) The top six teams in each conference already advanced outright. In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder finished first at 64-18, the San Antonio Spurs took second at 62-20, Denver Nuggets finished third at 54-28, Los Angeles Lakers landed fourth at 53-29, Houston Rockets took fifth at 52-30, and Minnesota Timberwolves finished sixth at 49-33. (nba.com) In the East, the Detroit Pistons finished first at 60-22, the Boston Celtics were second at 56-26, the New York Knicks took third at 53-29, the Cleveland Cavaliers were fourth at 52-30, and both the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks finished 46-36 in the fifth and sixth spots. (nba.com) The Play-In is a four-team mini-bracket in each conference for the seventh and eighth seeds. The seventh-place team hosts the eighth-place team for the No. 7 seed, while the ninth-place team hosts the tenth-place team in an elimination game; the remaining teams then meet for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) That format means the Suns and 76ers can clinch playoff spots with one win, while the Trail Blazers, Magic, Clippers, Warriors, Hornets, and Heat all need either one or two wins depending on their opener. The winners become the final two first-round opponents for the Thunder and Spurs in the West and the Pistons and Celtics in the East. (nba.com) Sunday’s regular-season finish also settled the last seeding fight near the top of the West. NBA.com said Denver clinched No. 3, which pushed the Lakers to No. 4 and locked in a Nuggets-Timberwolves series and a Lakers-Rockets series. (nba.com) The rest of the confirmed first-round matchups are Knicks versus Hawks and Cavaliers versus Raptors in the East. The Thunder, Spurs, Pistons, and Celtics are waiting on Play-In winners before their series can be scheduled in full. (nba.com) The calendar now moves quickly: two nights of Play-In games on April 14 and April 15, the final qualifier games on April 17, and a full playoff bracket starting April 18. By Friday night, all 16 postseason teams will be locked in. (nba.com)
