With less than a month to go before the start of the 2026 NBA playoffs, here's where things stand
By Brad Botkin Mar 18, 2026 at 7:53 am ET • 3 min read 
Getty Images The Los Angeles Lakers knocked off the Houston Rockets on Monday to tie the season series 1-1. They play again Wednesday night to decide the season tiebreaker, which could have major seeding implications with a single loss currently separating the two.
This is but one of many seeding races across both conferences that look to be headed for a photo finish as we are less than a month out from the close of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. The final day of games 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 Wednesday, March 18.
*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 Heat vs. No. 8 Hawks , No. 9 76ers vs. No. 10 Hornets West: No. 7 Suns vs. No. 8 Clippers, No. 9 Warriors vs. No. 10 Trail Blazers
East first round No. 1 Pistons vs. No. 8 76ers/Heat/Hawks/Hornets No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Heat/76ers No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Magic No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Raptors
West first round No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Clippers/Suns/Warriors/Blazers No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 7 Suns/Clippers No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Timberwolves No. 4 Rockets vs. No. 5 Nuggets
Western Conference standings
At the top of the West, No. 2 San Antonio still has an outside shot to catch the No. 1 Thunder, but one way or another those are going to be the top two teams. After that, just two games separate the 3-6 seeds.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (54-15)
- Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. San Antonio Spurs (51-18)
- Tiebreaker vs. Thunder: Spurs clinched
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. Los Angeles Lakers (43-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Series tied 1-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
4. Houston Rockets (41-26)
- Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Nuggets own
- Tiebreaker vs. Wolves: Rockets lead 1-0 (two to play)
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
5. Denver Nuggets (42-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: Nuggets own
- Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Nuggets own
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
6. Minnesota Timberwolves (42-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Suns own
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
7. Phoenix Suns (39-30)
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Suns own
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
8. L.A. Clippers (34-34)
- Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Clippers lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
9. Golden State Warriors (33-35)
- Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Portland owns
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Portland Trail Blazers (33-36)
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Eastern Conference standings
In the East, Detroit has a firm hold on the top spot over Boston and the tiebreaker already clinched. The Celtics are focused on holding off the No. 3 Knicks, who are trying to hold off the No. 4 Cavs, who are trying to hold off the No. 5 Raptors, who are one game up on the Magic. So yeah, it's tight.
1. Detroit Pistons (49-19)
- Tiebreaker vs. Celtics: Pistons own
- SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed
2. Boston Celtics (45-23)
- Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed
3. New York Knicks (45-25)
- Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks own
- SportsLine projection: No. 3 seed
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (42-27)
- Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Cavs lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed
5. Toronto Raptors (38-29)
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Raptors lead 2-0
- SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed
6. Orlando Magic (38-30)
- Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Series tied 1-1
- Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Miami owns
- SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed
7. Miami Heat (38-31)
- Tiebreaker vs. Sixers: Series tied 1-1
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Heat lead 2-1
- SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed
8. Atlanta Hawks (37-31)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets own
- SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed
9. Philadelphia 76ers (37-32)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: 76ers own
- SportsLine projection: No. 9 seed
10. Charlotte Hornets (35-34)
- Tiebreaker vs. Hawks: Hornets own
- SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed
Notable magic numbers
- OKC's magic number to clinch West's No. 1 seed: 11
- Detroit's magic number to clinch East's No. 1 seed: 10
