By way of their win over the Washington Wizards and Houston’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, the Golden State Warriors have sealed a spot in … drum roll … the 2026 Play-In Tournament! They can’t sink into the lottery, and they can’t rise into a playoff spot without going through the play-in hazing. Congrats, guys. It has been a long road, but you made it.
Now, if you all have any organizational sense whatsoever, you will do everything in your power to make sure that your season does not, under any circumstances, extend beyond that play-in tournament, which would cost you a lottery pick this summer just for the right to get thrashed in the first round.
Moving on, the Celtics did their part to clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Hawks on Friday, but Toronto beating New Orleans keeps Boston’s magic number at one.
The Oklahoma City 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 Saturday, March 28.
*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 Hornets | No. 9 Magic 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 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 Rockets
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Timberwolves
Western Conference standings
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (58-16)
- Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (55-18)
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. Los Angeles Lakers (48-26)
- Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Lakers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Lakers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Denver Nuggets (47-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Nuggets clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Nuggets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Minnesota Timberwolves (45-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Tied with one game remaining
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Houston Rockets (44-29)
- Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Rockets clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (40-33)
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Series tied 2-2, Suns hold because of division record
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Los Angeles Clippers (38-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-0
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
9. Portland Trail Blazers (37-37)
- Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Blazers clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Golden State Warriors (36-38)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Eastern Conference standings
1. Detroit Pistons (53-20)
- Tiebreaker vs. Celtics: Pistons clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. Boston Celtics (49-24)
- Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. New York Knicks (48-26)
- Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (46-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Toronto Raptors (41-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Raptors clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers currently own via division record
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Atlanta Hawks (41-33)
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: Hawks clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
7. Philadelphia 76ers (40-33)
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: 76ers clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Series tied 1-1
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Series tied 1-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
9. Charlotte Hornets (39-34)
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Hornets clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
8. Orlando Magic (39-34)
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Magic clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
10. Miami Heat (39-35)
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
Notable magic numbers
- Knicks’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot: 1
- Celtics’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot: 1
- Lakers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot: 2
- Cavaliers’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot: 3
- Pistons’ magic number to clinch East’s No. 1 seed: 5
- Thunder’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 8
