The Los Angeles Lakers knocked off the Houston Rockets on Monday, and it was huge for a couple reasons. First, it gave the Lakers, winners of nine of their last 10, sole possession of the West’s No. 3 seed in the loss column. 

Second, it tied the season series 1-1 with one head-to-head matchup remaining on Wednesday. The winner of that game will win the tiebreaker, which could obviously be a big factor come seeding time with the Lakers and Rockets jostling for not only what could be home-court advantage in a potential series, but also, depending on matchups, the luxury of avoiding OKC until the conference finals. 

This is but one of many seeding races across both conferences that look to be headed for a photo finish as we are less than a month out from the close of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. The final day of games 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 Tuesday, March 17.

*Tiebreaker Note: All tiebreakers are included for teams currently within one game (or one seed) of each other, but will only be listed under the current higher seed’s section. 

2026 NBA Playoff Picture

If the season ended today…

Play-In Tournament
East: No. 7 Heat vs. No. 8 76ers, No. 9 Hawks vs. No. 10 Hornets
West: No. 7 Suns vs. No. 8 Clippers, No. 9 Warriors vs. No. 10 Trail Blazers

East first round
No. 1 Pistons vs. No. 8 76ers/Heat/Hawks/Hornets
No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Heat/76ers
No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Raptors
No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Magic

West first round
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Clippers/Suns/Warriors/Blazers
No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 7 Suns/Clippers
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Timberwolves
No. 4 Rockets vs. No. 5 Nuggets

Western Conference standings

At the top of the West, No. 2 San Antonio still has an outside shot to catch the No. 1 Thunder, but one way or another those are going to be the top two teams. After that, just two games separate the 3-6 seeds. 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (53-15)

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

2. San Antonio Spurs (50-18)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Thunder: Spurs clinched
  • SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed

3. Los Angeles Lakers (43-25)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Series tied 1-1
  • SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed

4. Houston Rockets (41-26)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Nuggets own
  • Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Rockets lead 1-0 (two to play)
  • SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed

5. Denver Nuggets (41-27)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: Nuggets own
  • Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Nuggets own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed

6. Minnesota Timberwolves (41-27)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Suns own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed

7. Phoenix Suns (39-29)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Suns own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed

8. L.A. Clippers (34-34)

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

9. Golden State Warriors (33-35)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Portland owns
  • SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed

10. Portland Trail Blazers (33-36)

  • SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed

Eastern Conference standings

In the East, Detroit has a firm hold on the top spot over Boston and the tiebreaker already clinched. The Celtics are focused on holding off the No. 3 Knicks, who are trying to hold off the No. 4 Cavs, who are trying to hold off the No. 5 Magic, who are tied with the Raptors in the loss column. So yeah, it’s tight. 

1. Detroit Pistons (48-19)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Celtics: Pistons own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed

2. Boston Celtics (45-23)

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

3. New York Knicks (44-25)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (41-27)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Cavs lead 2-1
  • SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed

5. Orlando Magic (38-29)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Series tied 1-1
  • Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Miami owns
  • SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed

6. Toronto Raptors (38-29)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Raptors lead 2-0
  • SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed

7. Miami Heat (38-30)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Sixers: Series tied 1-1
  • Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Heat lead 2-1
  • SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed

8. Philadelphia 76ers (37-31)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: 76ers own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed

9. Atlanta Hawks (37-31)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed

10. Charlotte Hornets (34-34)

  • Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Hornets own
  • SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed

Notable magic numbers

  • OKC’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 12
  • Detroit’s magic number to clinch East’s No. 1 seed: 11