2026 NBA playoff picture: Projected bracket, who’s clinched and where things stand entering season’s final day
One playoff spot and 10 postseason seeds will be determined on Sunday — here’s everything you need to know
By
Brad Botkin
Apr 11, 2026
at
9:40 am ET
•
3 min read
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With the final day of of the NBA regular season set for Sunday, every team now has just one game remaining, and the playoff picture became a lot clearer on Friday. Eleven of the 12 top-six playoff spots have been secured. We know six of the eight play-in teams. The East’s final playoff spot will be decided on Sunday, and some key Western Conference seeding will be sorted out.
Here are the key developments from Friday:
With their win over the Suns and the Rockets’ loss to Minnesota, the Lakers clinched a top-four seed. They can still jump the Nuggets for No. 3 if they beat the Jazz on Sunday and the Nuggets lose to San Antonio.
The Rockets are now locked into the No. 5 seed after losing to the Wolves on Friday.
By way of the Celtics’ win over the Pelicans and the Cavs’ loss to the Hawks, the No. 2-4 seeds in the East are now set with the Celtics at No. 2, the Knicks at No. 3 and the Cavs at No. 4.
With their aforementioned win over the Cavs, the Hawks clinched a top-six seed and can lock up the No. 5 seed with win over the Heat on Sunday.
The No. 6 seed in the East is still up for grabs between the Hawks, Raptors, Magic and 76ers. If this race ends in a three-way tie between Atlanta, Toronto and Orlando, the order would be: No. 5 Atlanta, No. 6 Toronto and No. 7 Orlando. If Atlanta wins on Sunday to secure the No. 5 seed, and the race for No. 6 ends in a three-way tie between Toronto, Orlando and Philadelphia, the 76ers would get the No. 6 seed, followed by Toronto and Orlando in the 7-8 play-in game.
With their loss to the Pistons on Friday, the Hornets are locked into the East’s 9-10 play-in game. They will face the Heat on Wednesday. The Hornets will secure the No. 9 seed and host that game if they beat the Knicks on Sunday or if the Heat lose to the Hawks.
The Blazers beat the Clippers on Friday to jump into the West’s No. 8 seed. Portland can lock that spot up with a win over the Kings on Sunday or a Clippers loss to Golden State.
With that reported, here is where we stand, including all seeds that have been locked into place and current playoff matchups, entering the final day of action on Sunday, April 12. And important notes on tiebreakers.
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 Trail Blazers | No. 9 Clippers 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 Raptors No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Hawks
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 (64-17)
Locked at No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (62-19)
Locked at No. 2 seed
3. Denver Nuggets (53-28)
Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Lakers clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Los Angeles Lakers (52-29)
SportsLineprojection: No. 4 seed
5. Houston Rockets (51-30)
Locked at No. 5 seed
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (48-33)
Locked at No. 6 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (44-37)
Locked at No. 7 seed
8. Portland Trail Blazers (41-40)
Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Blazers clinched via conference record
