by The New York Knicks swept the Blazers on Tuesday. Combined with Brooklyn’s loss to Oklahoma City, the Knicks are back at No. 5 in the East.
The Milwaukee Bucks have won 21 of their last 23. The most recent win came in Phoenix on Tuesday and clinched a playoff spot for the Bucks — the first team to do so.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the Eastern Conference playoff situation and play-in games 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 became the first team to clinch at least a top-six seed with their win over Phoenix on Tuesday.
- 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
Boston lost to the Rockets on Monday and now trails Milwaukee by three in the loss column with one game remaining. The Celtics are tied in the loss column with No. 3 Philly with the tiebreaker secured.
- 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 are tied with No. 2 Boston in the loss column. Boston has the tiebreaker.
- 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
The Cavs have a three game lead against the No. 5 Knicks and No.
- 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 (41-30)
In their quest to stay above the play-in line, the Knicks have a three-game lead over No. 7 Heat with two body matches remaining.
- 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 (39-30)
Brooklyn has three losses to No. 7 Miami with two games remaining. They are in the driver’s seat to stay above the line of play.
- 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 TOURNAMENT
7. Miami Heat (37-33)
Miami trails No. 5 New York and No. 6 Brooklyn by three in the loss column, with two games remaining against each. They lead the No. 8 Hawks by an effective three games with the tiebreaker secured.
- 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 (34-35)
Atlanta is an effective three games behind No. 7 Miami, which owns the tiebreaker.
- 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: Atlanta leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play
9. Toronto Raptors (33-36)
Toronto is tied in the loss column with the No. 11 Bulls with the tiebreaker secured and is one loss ahead of the No. 10 Wizards.
- Predicted Seed: 11
- Current First Round Match: vs. Wizards (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: The hawks tightened
- 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)
The Wizards are technically back in play-in by winning percentage, but they actually trail No. 10 Chicago by one in the loss column.
- Predicted Seed: 9
- 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. Chicago Bulls (31-36)
The Bulls actually lead the No. 10 Wizards by one in the loss column, but for now, they see their name below the play-in line according to their current winning percentage.
- Predicted Seed: 10
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: The Raptors tightened up
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The bulls currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: The Pacers embraced
12. Indiana Pacers (31-38)
- 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
