11 NBA Teams Clinched

Eleven teams had already locked up direct National Basketball Association playoff berths by Sunday, April 12, leaving the regular season finale to sort out seeding and one last automatic spot. (nba.com) The teams already through were 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. (nba.com) The only top-six place still open was No. 6 in the Eastern Conference. Toronto could clinch it with a win or losses by Orlando and Philadelphia; Orlando needed a win plus a Toronto loss; Philadelphia needed a win plus losses by both Toronto and Orlando. (nba.com) That left the play-in tournament to absorb most of the remaining uncertainty. The National Basketball Association said the SoFi Play-In Tournament starts April 14 and the first round of the playoffs starts April 18. (nba.com) In the West, the bracket was mostly set before the final tipoffs. Oklahoma City had the No. 1 seed, San Antonio had No. 2, Houston was locked into No. 5, Minnesota was locked into No. 6, Phoenix had No. 7 and Golden State had No. 10. (nba.com) Denver and the Lakers were still fighting over Nos. 3 and 4. CBS Sports reported the Lakers could move to No. 3 if they beat Utah on Sunday and Denver lost to San Antonio. (cbssports.com) The other Western race was lower in the bracket but still important. Portland moved into No. 8 by beating the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, and CBS Sports said the Trail Blazers could keep that spot with a win over Sacramento or a Clippers loss to Golden State. (cbssports.com) In the East, Detroit had already clinched No. 1, Boston No. 2, New York No. 3 and Cleveland No. 4. Atlanta had secured a top-six finish and could still lock up No. 5 with a win over Miami on Sunday. (nba.com) (cbssports.com) Charlotte and Miami were already set for the 9-versus-10 play-in game in the East, with hosting rights still in play. CBS Sports said Charlotte would host if it beat New York on Sunday or if Miami lost to Atlanta. (cbssports.com) All 30 teams were scheduled to play on Sunday, with the Eastern Conference games starting at 3 p.m. Pacific time and the Western Conference games at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time. By night’s end, the field would be the same, but the bracket would look different. (nba.com)