Every team in the NBA has two games remaining. All 30 teams will be in action on Friday night and then again on Sunday as the regular season wraps up and the full playoff picture gets sorted out. While we know the 20 postseason teams and 10 of the top 12 seeds, there are still some important seeds to play for over the final three days. The New York Knicks are still technically alive for the East’s No. 2 seed after beating the Boston Celtics on Thursday, moving within two games of Boston with two to play and the tiebreaker secured.
It’s unlikely that Boston will drop both its remaining games (vs. New Orleans and Orlando), however, which creates some very interesting matchups between the 3-6 Eastern teams on Friday: No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 5 Raptors and No. 4 Cavs vs. No. 6 Hawks. How those games turn out will go a long way in determining the likely first-round matchup for each team. Neither the Hawks nor the Raptors have secured their playoff spot yet. The Magic, 76ers and Hornets are all still mathematically alive for a top-six seed.
The 10 teams who’ve already clinched a playoff spot? Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Cavaliers, Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets and Wolves. We also know the Suns, Blazers, Clippers, Warriors and Heat are destined for the Play-In Tournament.
On Wednesday night, the Thunder clinched the No. 1 seed in the West and the best record in the NBA as they picked up their 64th win of the season with a victory against the Clippers. Five seeds are set in the West: the Thunder at No. 1, Spurs at No. 2 and Wolves at No. 6. The Suns are locked into the No. 7 seed in the play-in, while the Warriors will be the No. 10 seed.
The final day of the regular season will be on Sunday (April 12). Between now and then, we will be updating this playoff picture each day to keep you up to date on the standings, important magic numbers, all relevant tiebreakers and our SportsLine projections.
Here is where we stand entering play on Friday, April 10.
*Tiebreaker note: All tiebreakers are included for teams currently within one game (or one seed) of each other, but will only be listed in the current higher seed’s section.
2026 NBA Playoff Picture
If the season ended today…
Play-In Tournament
- East: No. 7 Magic vs. No. 8 76ers | No. 9 Hornets vs. No. 10 Heat
- West: No. 7 Suns vs. No. 8 Clippers | No. 9 Trail Blazers vs. No. 10 Warriors
East first round
No. 1 Pistons vs. No. 8 TBD
No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 TBD
No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Hawks
No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Raptors
West first round
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 TBD
No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 7 TBD
No. 3 Nuggets vs. No. 6 Timberwolves
No. 4 Lakers vs. No. 5 Rockets
Western Conference standings
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-16)
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (61-19)
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. Denver Nuggets (52-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Lakers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Nuggets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Los Angeles Lakers (51-29)
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Houston Rockets (51-29)
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (47-33)
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (44-36)
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Los Angeles Clippers (41-39)
- Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
9. Portland Trail Blazers (40-40)
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Golden State Warriors (37-43)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Eastern Conference standings
1. Detroit Pistons (58-22)
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. Boston Celtics (54-26)
- Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. New York Knicks (52-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (51-29)
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Toronto Raptors (45-35)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Raptors clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Raptors clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers clinched (via division record)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Raptors clinched (via conference record)
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Atlanta Hawks (45-35)
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Hawks clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: Hawks clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Orlando Magic (44-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
8. Philadelphia 76ers (43-37)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: 76ers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
9. Charlotte Hornets (43-37)
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Miami Heat (41-39)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Who’s clinched?
- The Pistons, Celtics, Knicks and Cavaliers have clinched playoff spots in the East.
- The Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, Nuggets, Rockets and Wolves have clinched playoff spots in the West.
- The Thunder have clinched the No. 1 seed in the West, the best record in the league and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
- The Pistons have clinched the No. 1 seed in the East.
- The Suns, Clippers, Trail Blazers and Warriors are locked into the West’s Play-In Tournament.
- The Heat are locked into the East’s Play-In Tournament.
Notable magic numbers
- Hawks’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 1
- Raptors’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 1
