The final week of the 2025-26 NBA regular season is here, and the playoff picture is coming into focus. Ten teams — the Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Cavaliers, Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets and Wolves — have clinched playoff spots so far, and the rest will be decided in the coming days.
The Los Angeles Lakers got blown out by the Thunder on Tuesday, and with the Rockets defeating the Suns, the two teams are now tied for the Nos. 4/5 seeds in the West. The Lakers have clinched the tiebreaker, so they continue to hold the 4-seed for now. Also on Tuesday, the Wolves clinched the West’s sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot by way of Phoenix’s loss to Houston.
The Hawks have the inside track on the East’s No. 5 seed, but they’re only up one game on the No. 6 Raptors and Toronto owns the tiebreaker. Including Atlanta, the battle for the sixth and final playoff spot in the East is a five-team race.
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 Wednesday, April 8.
*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 76ers vs. No. 8 Magic | 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 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 (63-16)
- Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (60-19)
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. Denver Nuggets (51-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Lakers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Nuggets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Los Angeles Lakers (50-29)
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Houston Rockets (50-29)
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Tied with one game remaining
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (47-32)
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (43-36)
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Los Angeles Clippers (41-38)
- Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-1
- Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Clippers lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
9. Portland Trail Blazers (40-39)
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Golden State Warriors (37-42)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Eastern Conference standings
1. Detroit Pistons (57-22)
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. Boston Celtics (54-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. New York Knicks (51-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (50-29)
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Atlanta Hawks (45-34)
- Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: Hawks clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Hawks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Toronto Raptors (44-35)
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers via division record
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Raptors via conference record
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Raptors own
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Raptors lead 2-0 (two to play)
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Philadelphia 76ers (43-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: 76ers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: 76ers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Orlando Magic (43-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Magic clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
9. Charlotte Hornets (43-37)
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
10. Miami Heat (41-38)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Who’s clinched?
- The Pistons, Celtics, Knicks and Cavaliers have clinched playoff spots in the East.
- The Pistons have clinched the No. 1 seed in the East.
- The Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, Nuggets, Rockets and Wolves have clinched playoff spots in the West.
- The Suns, Clippers, Trail Blazers and Warriors are locked into the West’s Play-In Tournament.
Notable magic numbers
- Hawks’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 1
- Thunder’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 1
- Wolves’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 2
- Raptors’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 3
