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By way of the Indiana Pacers' loss to the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks' win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, all 10 Eastern Conference playoff/play-in seeds, and the corresponding first-round matchups, are now set. In the West, things aren't nearly as sorted. But we did get some clarity on Friday night as the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the No. 3 seed with their blowout win over the Houston Rockets. The West's top three seeds are now locked as the Thunder, Rockets and Lakers, in that order.
After that, any three of the Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves or Grizzlies can end up with seeds four through six, while two of those teams will have to go through the Play-In Tournament. No. 8 Memphis needs the most help after its loss Friday night in Denver, which has the inside track to the No. 4 seed.
Everybody has one game left on Sunday. With the Warriors and Clippers each winning their game on Friday, pay particular attention to their head-to-head finale at 3:30 ET on Sunday. It will help determine a lot in terms of how these West seeds shake out.
Who's clinched?
- All East seeds are locked.
- The Thunder, Rockets and Lakers, respectively, have clinched the West's top three seeds.
- The Kings and Mavericks are locked into the West's Play-In Tournament.
East Play-In games
- No. 7 Magic vs. No. 8 Hawks
- No. 9 Bulls vs. No. 10 Heat
East first-round matchups
- No. 1 Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Magic/Hawks/Bulls/Heat
- No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Magic/Hawks
- No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Pistons
- No. 4 Pacers vs. No. 5 Bucks
West Play-In games
*If the season ended today...
- No. 7 Timberwolves vs. No. 8 Grizzlies
- No. 9 Kings vs. No. 10 Mavericks
West first-round matchups
*If the season ended today...
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Timberwolves/Grizzlies/Kings/Mavericks
No. 2 Rockets vs. No. 7 Timberwolves/Grizzlies
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Warriors
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Clippers
Entering the final day of the regular season on Sunday, here is the 2024-25 NBA playoff picture.
Eastern Conference standings
| Rank | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland - x | 64 | 17 | -- |
| 2 | Boston - x | 60 | 21 | 4.0 |
| 3 | New York - x | 50 | 31 | 13.0 |
| 4 | Indiana - x | 49 | 32 | 14.0 |
| 5 | Milwaukee - x | 47 | 34 | 17.0 |
| 6 | Detroit - x | 44 | 37 | 19.0 |
| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7 | Orlando | 41 | 40 | 23.0 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 39 | 42 | 25.0 |
| 9 | Chicago | 38 | 43 | 26.0 |
| 10 | Miami | 37 | 44 | 27.0 |
Western Conference standings
| Rank | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City - x | 67 | 14 | -- |
| 2 | Houston - x | 52 | 29 | 13.0 |
| 3 | L.A. Lakers - x | 50 | 31 | 17.0 |
| 4 | Denver | 49 | 32 | 18.0 |
| 5 | L.A. Clippers | 49 | 32 | 18.0 |
| 6 | Golden St. | 48 | 33 | 19.0 |
| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7 | Minnesota | 48 | 33 | 19.0 |
| 8 | Memphis | 47 | 34 | 19.0 |
| 9 | Sacramento | 39 | 42 | 27.0 |
| 10 | Dallas | 39 | 42 | 28.0 |
x = clinched playoff spot
As a reminder: the top six teams in each conference automatically get spots in the 16-team playoff field. The final four playoff spots will be determined by the Play-In Tournament, which will feature Nos. 7-10 in each conference. The seventh-place team hosts the eight-place team to earn the No. 7 seed. The loser of that game will face the winner of a game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams for the No. 8 seed.
Tiebreakers
Here's how NBA playoff tiebreakers work:
In the event of a two-way tie, the team that won the season series gets the higher seed. If they split the season series and one of the teams won its division, the division winner gets the higher seed. If that doesn't resolve the tie, then the tiebreakers are, in order: division record (if the teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
In the event that more than two teams are tied, the tiebreakers are, in order: division winner, record against tied teams, division record (if all tied teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
And here's a breakdown of who currently holds some of the key tiebreakers:
- The Lakers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves and Grizzlies.
- The Nuggets hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Warriors.
- The Clippers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Warriors and Grizzlies.
- The Grizzlies hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Timberwolves.
- The Warriors hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Timberwolves and Grizzlies.
- The Timberwolves hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Nuggets and Clippers.
- The Kings hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mavericks
