2026 NBA playoff picture: Standings, tiebreakers, projections as Lakers clinch playoff spot with 50th win

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The Los Angeles Lakers became the sixth team to clinch a playoff spot with their win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday. They join the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.

Cleveland missed an opportunity to pull into a tie with the Knicks, who lost to the Rockets, for the East’s No. 3 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 Wednesday, April 1.

*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 Heat vs. No. 10 Hornets
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 Lakers vs. No. 6 Rockets
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Timberwolves

Western Conference standings

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (60-16)

Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed

2. San Antonio Spurs (57-18)

SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed

3. Los Angeles Lakers (50-26)

Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Lakers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Lakers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed

4. Denver Nuggets (48-28)

Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Nuggets clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Nuggets clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed

5. Minnesota Timberwolves (46-29)

Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Tied with one game remaining
SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed

6. Houston Rockets (46-29)

Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Rockets clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed

7. Phoenix Suns (42-34)

Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Series tied 2-2, Suns hold because of division record
SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed

8. Los Angeles Clippers (39-37)

Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-1
SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed

9. Portland Trail Blazers (39-38)

Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Blazers clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed

10. Golden State Warriors (36-39)

SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed

Eastern Conference standings

1. Detroit Pistons (55-21)

Tiebreaker vs. Celtics: Pistons clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed

2. Boston Celtics (50-25)

Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1
SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed

3. New York Knicks (48-28)

Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (47-29)

Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed

5. Atlanta Hawks (43-33)

Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors clinched
Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: Hawks clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed

6. Toronto Raptors (42-33)

Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers currently own via division record
SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed

7. Philadelphia 76ers (41-34)

Tiebreaker vs. Magic: 76ers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: 76ers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Series tied 1-1
SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed

8. Orlando Magic (40-35)

Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Magic clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed

9. Miami Heat (40-36)

Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Heat clinched
SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed

10. Charlotte Hornets (40-36)

SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed

Notable magic numbers

Cavaliers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot: 1
Pistons’ magic number to clinch East’s No. 1 seed: 2
Thunder’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 5