NBA regular season finale
The NBA regular season ends today with all 30 teams in action, and outcomes will lock seeding before the Play‑In Tournament begins Tuesday, April 14. (northjersey.com) (sports.yahoo.com). ESPN's postseason tracker is the go‑to snapshot as clinches, tiebreakers and play‑in positions finalize on the last day. (espn.com).
The National Basketball Association regular season ends Sunday, April 12, with all 30 teams playing and playoff seeding still unsettled in both conferences. (nba.com) (espn.com) The SoFi Play-In Tournament starts Tuesday, April 14, runs through Friday, April 17, and sets the No. 7 and No. 8 playoff seeds in each conference. The first round of the playoffs begins Saturday, April 18. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) Going into the final day, the Detroit Pistons held the East No. 1 seed at 59-22, the Boston Celtics were second at 55-26, and the New York Knicks were third at 53-28. In the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder led at 64-17 and the San Antonio Spurs were second at 62-19. (nba.com) (espn.com) The teams that finish first through sixth in each conference go straight into the playoffs. Teams that finish seventh through 10th go into a four-team play-in bracket, where the 7-8 winner claims the No. 7 seed and the 9-10 winner must beat the 7-8 loser for the No. 8 seed. (nba.com) That format turns the last day into a seeding race, not just a finish line. A team can still move from a guaranteed playoff spot into the play-in, or from home court in the first round into a road series, depending on Sunday’s results. (nba.com) (espn.com) The Western Conference had especially tight traffic near the play-in line entering Sunday. NBA.com’s live bracket showed the Phoenix Suns in seventh at 44-37, the Portland Trail Blazers in eighth at 41-40, the Los Angeles Clippers in ninth at 41-40, and the Golden State Warriors in 10th at 37-44. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The Eastern Conference picture was also still moving at the bottom of the bracket. NBA.com’s tracker showed the Orlando Magic in seventh at 45-36, the Philadelphia 76ers in eighth at 44-37, the Charlotte Hornets in ninth at 43-38, and the Miami Heat in 10th at 42-39. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The league’s tiebreaker system decides any dead heats after Sunday’s games, starting with head-to-head record and then moving through division and conference criteria. Those rules matter on a day when several teams are separated by one game or less. (nba.com) (nba.com) Sunday’s schedule is a full 15-game slate, the league’s standard regular-season close, and the bracket will not be final until those games end. By Monday, April 13, the field will be set for a play-in week that starts two days later. (nba.com) (usatoday.com)
