After the Boston Celtics’ 102-92 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks’ 145-113 win against the Washington Wizards on Sunday, the top of the Eastern Conference playoff picture is getting interesting. Boston is only half a game ahead of New York in the race for the No. 2 spot, and the Celtics have a major test coming up — their next game is Wednesday against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons are the only teams to have clinched a playoff spot so far.
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 Monday, March 23.
*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 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 Lakers vs. No. 6 Timberwolves
No. 4 Rockets vs. No. 5 Nuggets
Western Conference standings
As mentioned above, Oklahoma City and San Antonio have both clinched a playoff spot. The No. 2 Spurs still have an outside shot to catch the No. 1 Thunder, but one way or another, those are going to be the top two teams, with the Lakers in pretty firm control of the No. 3 seed. After that, the No. 4 Rockets, No. 5 Nuggets and No. 6 Timberwolves are in a virtual tie.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (56-15)
- Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (53-18)
- Tiebreaker vs. Thunder: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. Los Angeles Lakers (46-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Lakers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Houston Rockets (43-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Nuggets clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Rockets lead 1-0
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Denver Nuggets (44-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Nuggets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (44-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Suns clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (40-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Series tied 2-2, Suns hold because of division record
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Los Angeles Clippers (35-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-0
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
9. Portland Trail Blazers (35-37)
- Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Blazers clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Golden State Warriors (33-38)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Eastern Conference standings
In the East, Detroit has a firm hold on the top spot over Boston with a 4 ½-game lead and the tiebreaker already clinched. Boston is more concerned with holding off the No. 3 Knicks, as it has only a one-game lead in the loss column with one head-to-head matchup remaining.
1. Detroit Pistons (51-19)
- Tiebreaker vs. Celtics: Pistons clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. Boston Celtics (47-24)
- Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
3. New York Knicks (47-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (44-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Toronto Raptors (39-31)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Raptors clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Atlanta Hawks (39-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: Hawks clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Hawks clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat leads 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Philadelphia 76ers (39-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: 76ers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Series tied 1-1, Heat holds because of conference record
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Orlando Magic (38-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Magic clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
9. Miami Heat (38-33)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Miami clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
10. Charlotte Hornets (37-34)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Notable magic numbers
- OKC’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 9
- Detroit’s magic number to clinch East’s No. 1 seed: 7
