Below is a comprehensive snapshot of where things stand in the Eastern Conference playoff and play-in races entering play on Thursday. This post will be updated throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are clinched.
Reminder on how the play-in tournament works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed.
READ: Western Conference playoff picture
NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and precise projections imaginable.
- 🔒Locked into No. 1 seed
- Current first-round matchup: TBD
- 🔒Locked into No. 2 seed
- Current first-round matchup: vs. Heat-Hawks play-in winner
- 🔒Locked into No. 3 seed
- Current first-round matchup: vs. Nets
- 🔒Locked into No. 4 seed
- First-round matchup: vs. Knicks
5. New York Knicks (47-33)
- 🔒Locked into No. 5 seed
- First-round matchup: at Cavaliers
6. Brooklyn Nets (44-36)
- 🔒Clinched play-in spot
- Remaining schedule: vs. Magic, vs. 76ers
- Current first-round matchup: at 76ers
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Nets clinched
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
7. Miami Heat (42-37)
- 🔒Clinched play-in spot
- Remaining schedule: at 76ers, at Wizards, vs. Magic
- Current first-round matchup: vs. Hawks (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Heat clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clinched
8. Atlanta Hawks (41-39)
- 🔒Clinched play-in spot
- Remaining schedule: vs. 76ers, at Celtics
- Current first-round matchup: at Heat (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Hawks clinched
9. Toronto Raptors (40-40)
- 🔒Clinched play-in spot
- Remaining schedule: at Celtics, vs. Bucks
- Current first-round matchup: vs. Bulls (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Hawks clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Raptors clinched
10. Chicago Bulls (38-42)
- 🔒Locked into No. 10 seed
- Remaining schedule: at Mavericks, vs. Pistons
- Current first-round matchup: at Raptors (play-in)
