Meet the East 10
Unless the Wizards do something miraculous, we have our Eastern tournament in place. How's it look? PLUS: a wild Luka pass, the Kings fall sort of clinching and the Blazers are officially tanking.
Good morning. Let’s basketball.
Almond Blossoms, 1890; Vincent Van Gogh; uh, 1890
With a couple of weeks remaining in the NBA regular season, it would appear that the Eastern Conference postseason picture is more or less settled. At minimum, we have a very good idea of which 10 teams will be involved.
Technically speaking, 13 teams remain alive. But the Wizards, Pacers and Magic have very low odds of making the play-in at this point. Washington is three full games behind the No. 10 spot with seven remaining, and are losing the tiebreaker (conference record) to the team in that spot (the Bulls). And the Wizards have definitely done the math themselves.
The Pacers and Magic are further back. So it’s basically over. These will be your postseason 10 in the East:
Definitely in the Top 6
Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics
Philadelphia 76ers
Cleveland Cavaliers
Very Likely in the Top 6
New York Knicks
Possibly in the Top 6, Possibly in the Play-in
Brooklyn Nets
Miami Heat
Definitely in the Play-in, Unless the Wizards or Pacers or Magic Do Something Truly Miraculous
Atlanta Hawks
Toronto Raptors
Chicago Bulls
We definitely know which four teams will finish in the top four, and the order is rather set — though late-season heaters by Boston and Cleveland and a road swoon from Philly are complicating matters a little. The Celtics can win the No. 1 seed from the Bucks with a head-to-head win on Thursday plus an additional extra win over Milwaukee down the stretch. The Cavaliers at 48 wins need to win two more than the Sixers (49 wins) due down the stretch to claim No. 3; Cleveland has six games left and Philadelphia has seven to go.
This is all to say that the No. 1 seed is the most in flux seed here all of a sudden, but the Bucks still control their own destiny even if they lose straight-up to Boston this week.
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