Durant

15/04/2024 00:03

With the conclusion of the NBA’s regular season on Sunday, the league’s top six playoff seeds and play-in tournaments are set for each conference.

Heading into the final slate, the Eastern Conference post-season picture was much clearer, with the top seed Boston Celtics having clinched home-court advantage in the east almost a month ago and most uncertainty pertained to the second and sixth seeds.

In the west, it was a different story.

The Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder were tied atop the standings for the conference’s No. 1 seed and the 8-10 seeds were also in flux with the Los Angeles Lakers controlling their own destiny, holding a one-game lead, but not the tiebreak, on the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.

Now that the 82-game season has wrapped up, here are the matchups and scenarios heading into the play-in and playoffs.

Eastern Conference matchups:

(1) Boston Celtics vs. (8) Play-in winner with Game 1 Sunday, April 21 @ TBD
(2) New York Knicks vs. (7) 76ers/Heat with Game 1 Saturday, April 20 @ TBD
(3) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (6) Indiana Pacers with Game 1 Sunday, April 21 @ TBD
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Orlando Magic with Game 1 Saturday, April 20 @ TBD

Eastern Conference Play-in Tournament:

For 7 seed: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Miami Heat on Wednesday, April 17 @ 7 p.m. ET
9 vs. 10 seed: Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, April 17 @ 9:30 p.m. ET
For 8 seed: Winner of Bulls/Hawks vs. loser of 76ers/Heat on Friday, April 19 @ TBD

Western Conference matchups:

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Play-in winner with Game 1 Sunday, April 21 @ TBD
(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) Pelicans/Lakers with Game 1 Saturday, April 20 @ TBD
(3) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (6) Phoenix Suns with Game 1 Saturday, April 20 @ TBD
(4) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (5) Dallas Mavericks with Game 1 Sunday, April 21 @ TBD

Western Conference Play-in Tournament:

For 7 seed: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, April 16 @ 7:30 p.m. ET
9 vs. 10 seed: Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, April 16 @ 10 p.m. ET
For 8 seed: Winner of Kings/Warriors vs. loser of Pelicans/Lakers on Friday, April 19 @ TBD

The playoff bracket will begin on April 20 after the play-in tournaments are concluded and seeding is finalized.