Hottest NBA Teams Heading into Playoffs: Celtics, Pacers, Clippers
The For the Hoopers crew debates the hottest NBA teams heading into the playoffs: Celtics, Pacers, Clippers?
The final week of the NBA regular season has never been quite like this one. There’s an unprecedented playoff push going on in the Western Conference, with just two games separating seeds three through eight and a remarkable four-way tie between seeds four through eight entering Wednesday’s action.
Never mind that seeding also remains largely up for grabs in the Eastern Conference, even though the top six playoff teams and four play-in tournament participants have all clinched spots in the postseason. These past few days of the 2024-25 regular season might as well be the start of the playoffs for some teams and players.
It means in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors could wind up as high as the No. 3 seed or as low as playing on the road as the No. 8 seed in the play-in tournament. Same goes for the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the No. 1 seed over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, while the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers continue to jockey for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
It’s going to be a fascinating finish to this season. Here’s what to know about where the NBA playoff picture stands and the play-in tournament race heading into the final stretch of games before the postseason begins:
When is NBA play-in tournament?
The play-in tournament will begin on Tuesday, April 15 and end on Friday, April 18, with seeds 7 through 10 in both the Eastern and Western Conferences playing in a tournament-like format for a chance to move on to the NBA playoffs.
In the first games of the play-in tournament, the No. 7 seeds will host the No. 8 seeds. The winner of this game will secure a spot as the No. 7 seed in their respective conference. The team that loses will face the winner of a play-in game in which the No. 9 seeds host the No. 10 seeds. The loser in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 seed game is eliminated from the postseason and enters the NBA draft lottery.
The final games of the play-in tournament feature the losers of the No. 7-vs.-No. 8 matchups as the host against the winners of the No. 9-vs.-No. 10 games. The Eastern and Western Conference team that wins also advances to the NBA playoffs as the No. 8 seed. The losing team is eliminated from the postseason and enters the NBA draft lottery.
NBA playoff picture: Who has clinched a spot?
The top six teams in each conference automatically earn a playoff spot. The winners of the play-in tournament will move on to the first round of the playoffs, which begin on Saturday, April 19.
Here are the teams that have clinched a playoff or postseason spot:
Western Conference:
Eastern Conference
- Cleveland Cavaliers, clinched division and No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference
- Boston Celtics, clinched division
- New York Knicks, clinched playoff berth
- Indiana Pacers, clinched playoff berth
- Milwaukee Bucks, clinched playoff berth
- Detroit Pistons, clinched playoff berth
- Orlando Magic, clinched play-in tournament spot
- Atlanta Hawks, clinched play-in tournament spot
- Chicago Bulls, clinched play-in tournament spot
- Miami Heat, clinched play-in tournament spot
NBA playoff bracket: Matchups for current standings
Standings before games played on April 9
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
NBA standings
Here are the NBA standings before games played on Wednesday, April 9
Eastern Conference
- 1. Cleveland Cavaliers: 63-16 (Z)
- 2. Boston Celtics: 59-20 (D)
- 3. New York Knicks: 50-29*
- 4. Indiana Pacers: 48-31*
- 5. Milwaukee Bucks: 45-34*
- 6. Detroit Pistons: 43-36*
- 7. Orlando Magic: 39-40*
- 8. Atlanta Hawks: 37-42*
- 9. Chicago Bulls: 36-43*
- 10. Miami Heat: 36-43*
- 11. Toronto Raptors: 29-50 (E)
- 12. Brooklyn Nets: 26-53 (E)
- 13. Philadelphia 76ers: 23-56 (E)
- 14. Charlotte Hornets: 19-60 (E)
- 15. Washington Wizards: 17-62 (E)
Western Conference
- 1. Oklahoma City Thunder: 65-14 (Z)
- 2. Houston Rockets: 52-27 (D)
- 3. Los Angeles Lakers: 48-31
- 4. Los Angeles Clippers: 47-32
- 5. Denver Nuggets: 47-32
- 6. Golden State Warriors: 47-32
- 7. Memphis Grizzlies: 47-32
- 8. Minnesota Timberwolves: 46-33
- 9. Sacramento Kings: 39-40
- 10. Dallas Mavericks: 38-41
- 11. Phoenix Suns: 35-44
- 12. Portland Trail Blazers: 35-44 (E)
- 13. San Antonio Spurs: 32-47 (E)
- 14. New Orleans Pelicans: 21-58 (E)
- 15. Utah Jazz: 16-63 (E)
(Z) – Clinched conference; (D) – Clinched division; * – Clinched playoff spot; (E) – Eliminated
