Gary Dineen
Below is a complete snapshot of the place issues stand within the Eastern Conference playoff and play-in races getting into play on Thursday. This publish will likely be up to date all through the rest of the common season or till all seeds are clinched.
Reminder on how the play-in event works: No. 7 performs No. 8 and No. 9 performs No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 sport will get the No. 7 seed, whereas the loser performs the winner of the 9-10 sport for the No. 8 seed.
READ: Western Conference playoff image
NOTE: Our SportsLine mannequin, developed by predictive information engineer Stephen Oh, simulates your complete season 10,000 occasions to supply essentially the most unbiased and exact projections conceivable.
🔒Locked into No. 1 seedCurrent first-round matchup: TBD
🔒Locked into No. 2 seedCurrent first-round matchup: vs. Heat-Hawks play-in winner🔒Locked into No. 3 seedCurrent first-round matchup: vs. Nets🔒Locked into No. 4 seedFirst-round matchup: vs. Knicks
5. New York Knicks (47-33)
🔒Locked into No. 5 seedFirst-round matchup: at Cavaliers
6. Brooklyn Nets (44-36)
🔒Clinched play-in spotRemaining schedule: vs. Magic, vs. 76ersCurrent first-round matchup: at 76ersTiebreaker vs. Miami: Nets clinched
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
7. Miami Heat (42-37)
🔒Clinched play-in spotRemaining schedule: at 76ers, at Wizards, vs. MagicCurrent first-round matchup: vs. Hawks (play-in)Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets clinchedTiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Heat clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clinched
8. Atlanta Hawks (41-39)
🔒Clinched play-in spotRemaining schedule: vs. 76ers, at CelticsCurrent first-round matchup: at Heat (play-in)Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Hawks clinched
9. Toronto Raptors (40-40)
🔒Clinched play-in spotRemaining schedule: at Celtics, vs. BucksCurrent first-round matchup: vs. Bulls (play-in)Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Hawks clinchedTiebreaker vs. Chicago: Raptors clinched
10. Chicago Bulls (38-42)
🔒Locked into No. 10 seedRemaining schedule: at Mavericks, vs. PistonsCurrent first-round matchup: at Raptors (play-in)
