Playoff picture tightens — April 18 start
With one day left in the regular NBA season the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference are locked and ten teams overall have clinched playoff berths, which narrows who still has meaningful seeding to play for. (usatoday.com) The league’s postseason now turns to schedule specifics: the playoffs kick off April 18, while lower seeds will still sort themselves through tiebreakers and remaining games. (northjersey.com)
One day before the regular season ends, the National Basketball Association has already turned part of the playoff bracket into wet cement: the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference are set, and the postseason officially starts on Saturday, April 18 after the play-in games run April 14 through April 17. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) That means the biggest fights left are lower in the bracket, where teams are still trying to dodge the play-in tournament or grab home court in the first round. The play-in is the National Basketball Association’s four-team mini-tournament for seeds seven through ten in each conference, and it decides the last two playoff spots. (nba.com) (usatoday.com) In the East, the locked top four are the Detroit Pistons at 59-22, the Boston Celtics at 55-26, the New York Knicks at 53-28, and the Cleveland Cavaliers at 51-30. Those records matter because seeds one through four are guaranteed straight into a best-of-seven first-round series and avoid the sudden-death pressure of the play-in. (nba.com) (espn.com) The East still has movement below them. National Basketball Association standings on April 11 show the Orlando Magic at 45-36 in seventh, the Philadelphia 76ers at 44-37 in eighth, the Charlotte Hornets at 43-38 in ninth, and the Miami Heat at 42-39 in tenth, which means all four are lined up for the play-in unless Sunday changes the order. (nba.com) (espn.com) The West is tighter near the top of the middle than the East. The Oklahoma City Thunder are first at 64-17 and the San Antonio Spurs are second at 62-19, but the Denver Nuggets at 53-28 and the Los Angeles Lakers at 52-29 are still close enough that seeds three and four are not fully settled. (nba.com) (espn.com) The lower West is even messier. The Phoenix Suns are seventh at 44-37, the Portland Trail Blazers are eighth at 41-40, and the Los Angeles Clippers are ninth at 41-40, so one win or one tiebreaker can change who gets two chances in the play-in and who gets pushed into the single-elimination 9-versus-10 game. (nba.com) (espn.com) That format is why seed seven is so valuable. In each conference, the seven seed hosts the eight seed, and the winner goes straight into the playoffs as the seven; the loser gets one more game against the winner of nine versus ten for the eight seed. (nba.com) (usatoday.com) The calendar now moves fast. The regular season ends on Sunday, April 12, the play-in starts two days later on Tuesday, April 14, and Game 1 of the National Basketball Association Finals is already set for Wednesday, June 3. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) So the final weekend is no longer about who is good enough to get in; for most teams, that part is already done. It is about who gets a week to prepare for a seven-game series, who has to survive a four-day trapdoor, and who opens the postseason at home instead of on the road. (nba.com) (usatoday.com)
