The Pistons, who are without star Cade Cunningham because of a collapsed lung, became the third NBA team to clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Warriors on Friday. The Pistons join the Thunder and Spurs in the playoff field, and they have a firm hold on the East’s No. 1 seed.
Out west, the Timberwolves took a tough loss to the Blazers without Anthony Edwards on Friday,, which dropped them from No. 4 to No. 6. That’s how quickly things can change in these conference races that appear headed for a photo finish at many seeding spots with less than a month to play.
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 21.
*Tiebreaker Note: All tiebreakers are included for teams currently within one game (or one seed) of each other, but will only be listed under the current higher seed’s section.
2026 NBA Playoff Picture
If the season ended today…
Play-In Tournament
East: No. 7 Hawks vs. No. 8 Heat | No. 9 76ers vs. No. 10 Hornets
West: No. 7 Suns vs. No. 8 Trail Blazers | No. 9 Clippers 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 Magic
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 Timberwolves
No. 4 Rockets vs. No. 5 Nuggets
Western Conference standings
As mentioned above, the Thunder and Spurs have both clinched a playoff spot. The No. 2 Spurs still have an outside shot to catch the No. 1 Thunder, but one way or another those are going to be the top two teams, with the Lakers in pretty firm control of the No 3 seed. After that, just one loss separates the 4-6 seeds.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (55-15)
- Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (52-18)
- Tiebreaker vs. Thunder: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. Los Angeles Lakers (45-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Lakers own
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers own
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Houston Rockets (42-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Nuggets own
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Rockets lead 1-0
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Denver Nuggets (43-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Nuggets own
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (43-28)
- Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Suns own
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (39-31)
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Suns own
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. Portland Trail Blazers (35-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Blazers own
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
9. Los Angeles Clippers (34-36)
- Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-0
- Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Clippers lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
10. Golden State Warriors (33-37)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Eastern Conference standings
In the East, Detroit has a firm hold on the top spot over Boston with a four-game lead and the tiebreaker already clinched. After that, there are two games separating each of the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds. The tightest race is for the No. 6 seed, which is currently owned by Orlando with 31 losses — just one fewer than No. 7 Atlanta, No. 8 Miami and No. 9 Philadelphia.
1. Detroit Pistons (51-19)
- Tiebreaker vs. Celtics: Pistons own
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. Boston Celtics (47-23)
- Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. New York Knicks (46-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks own
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (43-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors own
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Toronto Raptors (39-30)
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Series tied 1-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
6. Orlando Magic (38-31)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Hawks own
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Miami owns
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
7. Atlanta Hawks (38-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Miami owns
- Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers own
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
8. Miami Heat (38-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Sixers: Series tied 1-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
9. Philadelphia 76ers (38-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Series tied 1-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Charlotte Hornets (36-34)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Notable magic numbers
- OKC’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 10
- Detroit’s magic number to clinch East’s No. 1 seed: 8
