The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday to fall a game behind Boston and Philadelphia in the race for the East’s No. 1 seed. Milwaukee now leads the Celtics and Sixers by two in the loss column. It could get interesting with Boston and Milwaukee having one more matchup, which will also decide the season tiebreaker.
It’s also worth noting that with the Brooklyn Nets’ loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Miami Heat are now destined to climb over the playoff line and into No. 6. The Heat trail the No. 6 Nets by two in the defeats, while two matches remain between them. If Miami were to win those two, it would, as it stands, also win the tiebreaker as the division winner.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the Eastern Conference playoff situation and play-in games entering play on Friday. 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.
- 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
- 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: The Celtics embraced
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs tight
- Predicted Seed: 3
- Current First Round Match: against Nets
- Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: The Celtics embraced
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs lead by way of conference winning percentage
- Predicted Seed: 4
- Current First Round Match: vs. Knicks
- Tiebreaker vs. Boston: The Cavs tightened up
- Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: The Cavs lead by way of conference winning percentage
- 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 (41-30)
- Predicted Seed: 5
- Current First Round Match: at the Cavs
- 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 (39-31)
- Predicted Seed: 6
- Current First Round Match: at the Sixers
- 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 TOURNAMENT
7. Miami Heat (38-33)
- 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: Heat tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Heat lead 2-1 with one to play
8. Atlanta Hawks (34-35)
- Predicted Seed: 8
- Current First Round Match: in Heat (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Hawkes hugged
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Hawks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play
9. Toronto Raptors (33-36)
- Predicted Seed: 9
- Current First Round Match: vs. Wizards (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Hawkes hugged
- 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 (32-37)
- Predicted Seed: 10
- Current First Round Match: at the Raptors (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. Indiana Pacers (32-38)
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: The Pacers embraced
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The Pacers currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: The Pacers embraced
12. Chicago Bulls (31-37)
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: The Raptors tightened up
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The bulls currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: The Pacers embraced