by The New York Knicks saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday night against Charlotte. With the loss, the Knicks fall into a tie with No. 6 Brooklyn, two behind the No. 4 Cavaliers in the loss column.
Miami, currently the No. 7 seed, has a great shot at catching either Brooklyn or New York to move above the playoff line. The Heat are three back of the No. 6 seed, but have two games against Brooklyn and New York remaining.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the Eastern Conference situation entering play on Wednesday. This post will be updated daily throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are set.
A reminder of 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.
READING: Image of the Western Conference playoffs
NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and accurate projections imaginable.
The Bucks have a three-game lead over the Celtics in the loss column. They play one more time on March 30 with the season series tied 1-1. The Bucks lead No. 3 Philly by four in the loss column, which feels pretty safe with 17 to play.
- Predicted Seed: 1
- Current First Round Match: TBD
- Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Sixers lead 2-1 with one to play
2. Boston Celtics (45-21)
The Celtics have lost three straight, by double digits in each. Boston now trails No. 1 Milwaukee three-for-three in the loss column and has just a one-loss lead over No. 3 Philadelphia, though that lead is effectively two games back with Boston tied break against Philly. The Celtics should be safe to finish no worse than third, as they lead the No. 4 Cavaliers by five in the loss column.
- Predicted Seed: 2
- Current First Round Match: Heat/Hawks play-in winner
- Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Boston tightened up
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs tight
The Sixers trail the No. 2 Celtics by just one in the loss column, but Boston has clinched the tiebreaker. They lead the No. 4 Cavs by four games. Right now, the Sixers feel like a good bet to stay at No. 3.
- Predicted Seed: 3
- Current First Round Match: vs. Brooklyn
- Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Boston tightened up
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs lead 2-1 with one to play
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (41-26)
The Cavs are trying to hold off the No. 5 Knicks, who fell in Charlotte on Tuesday and are two games behind Cleveland in the loss column with one game remaining. The Cavs also hold just a two-game lead over the No. 6 Nets with two games remaining.
- Predicted Seed: 4
- Current First Round Match: against New York
- Tiebreaker vs. Boston: The Cavs tightened up
- Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Cavs lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
5. New York Knicks (39-28)
The Knicks saw their nine-game winning streak end against Charlotte on Tuesday, leaving them two games back of the No. 4 Cavs and tied in the loss column with the No. 6 Nets. The Knicks have a three-game lead over the No. 7 Heat in their bid to stay above the play-in line, but keep in mind they play the Heat two more times.
- Predicted Seed: 5
- Current First Round Match: in Cleveland
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: The Knicks currently own the winning percentage through division
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play
6. Brooklyn Nets (37-28)
The Nets have been tough since trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. They hold a three-game lead over the No. 7 Heat to stay above the play-in line. They are tied with the No. 5 Knicks, and trail the No. 4 Cavs by two in the loss column.
- Predicted Seed: 6
- Current First Round Match: in Philadelphia
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. New York: The Knicks currently own the winning percentage through division
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Nets lead 2-0 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENTS
7. Miami Heat (35-31)
Miami is three losses behind No. 6 Brooklyn and No. 5 New York with two games remaining against each, so there’s a real chance to get past the play-in. At worst, they cemented their spot at No. 7 with a win over the No. 8 Hawks on Monday that sealed the tiebreaker over Atlanta, making Miami’s lead three effective games.
- Predicted Seed: 7
- Current First Round Match: vs. Hawks (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Miami tightened up.
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Miami leads 2-1 with one to play
8. Atlanta Hawks (32-33)
The Hawks fell to Miami on Monday to fall two games behind the Heat, who also sealed the tiebreaker over Atlanta, essentially making the lead three games.
Atlanta needs to focus on staying in the No. 8 seed, so they only need to win one play-in game to advance. This is going to get rough. The Hawks have just one loss against the No. 9 Raptors, though the lead is effectively two with Atlanta clinching the tiebreaker. Atlanta also has a one-game lead over the No. 10 Wizards with three games remaining.
- Predicted Seed: 8
- Current First Round Match: in Miami (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Atlanta tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Wizards lead 1-0 with three to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play
9. Toronto Raptors (32-34)
After falling to Denver on Monday, the Raptors are one back of No. 8 Atlanta and one back of No. 10 Washington. As for staying above the lottery line, Toronto has an effective three-loss advantage over the No. 11 Bulls with the tiebreaker secured and a three-loss lead over the No. 12 Pacers as well.
- Predicted Seed: 10
- Current First Round Match: vs. Wizards (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Hooks tensed
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: The Pacers embraced
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: The Raptors tightened up
10. Washington Wizards (31-34)
The Wizards beat Detroit on Tuesday. They have lost one back to No. 9 Toronto, two to the No. 11 Bulls and three to the No. 12 Pacers.
- Predicted Seed: 9
- Current First Round Match: in Toronto (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: The Pacers currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: The bulls currently own the conference winning percentage
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
11. Chicago Bulls (29-36)
The Bulls are two back of the No. 10 Wizards and now own the tiebreaker. They are tied with the No. 11 Pacers, but Indiana sealed the tiebreaker.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The bulls currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: The Pacers embraced
12. Indiana Pacers (29-37)
The Pacers are two back of No. 10 Washington and currently have the tiebreaker. They are tied with the No. 12 Bulls with the tiebreaker secured.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The Pacers currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: The Pacers embraced
