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NBA playoff picture, standings, bracket, matchups: Lakers jump to No. 8, Knicks remain alive for No. 2

Here's your one-stop shop for everything you need to know on the NBA playoff races

14 Apr 2024, 15:55 by Brad Botkin · CBS Sports

The final day of the 2023-24 NBA regular season is here, and so much is at stake before the postseason field is finalized Sunday evening. We know the 20 teams in the postseason field, but only five seeds are locked in ahead of what should be a wild Sunday in the NBA. The Timberwolves, Nuggets and Thunder are jostling for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The No. 2 seed in the East is up for grabs with the Bucks, Knicks and Cavaliers still fighting for the spot. And then seeds 5-8 in the East are also all up for grabs as the Magic, Pacers, 76ers and Heat figure things out on the regular season's final day.

The Play-In Tournament matchups are undecided outside of Bulls vs. Hawks in the East, and the Lakers and Warriors are trying to claim the No. 8 seed in the West, while the Suns and Pelicans are trying to avoid being the No. 7 seed.

On Friday, chaos struck the top of the Western Conference with Denver's shocking loss to the Spurs, which landed the Nuggets in a three-way tie with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves for the West's top seed. Each team has one game remaining. If it ends in a three-way tie, OKC would get the No. 1 seed followed by Minnesota at No. 2 and Denver at No. 3. The two-way tiebreakers are listed below.

In the East, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the most recent team to clinch a playoff berth with their win over the Pacers, who are now in a three-way tie with the Magic and 76ers for the 5-7 seeds, with Miami within one game and what could amount to a four-way tie for 5-8.

If Orlando, Indiana and Philadelphia finish in a three-way tie, the Magic would get the No. 5 seed as a division winner, with the Pacers taking No. 6 and Philadelphia No. 7 by virtue of Indiana's 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the Sixers.

If the Magic, Pacers and Sixers all lose their final game, and the Heat win their final game, we would have the aforementioned four-way tie. If that happens, Miami would get the No. 5 seed as a division winner. It would then become a three-way tie, which is settled by combined winning percentage among all teams involved. By that criteria, the Sixers would get the No. 6 seed with a 4-2 record against Indiana and Orlando. The Pacers would get No. 7 (3-3) and the Magic would get No. 8 (2-4).

Also, the Knicks have secured no worse than the No. 4 seed and remain alive to pass Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed if they win their final game vs. Chicago and the Bucks lose to Orlando. If the Bucks, Knicks and Cavs end up in a three-way tie, the order would go Cavs at No. 2 as a division winner, followed by the Bucks at No. 3 and the Knicks at No. 4 by virtue of Milwaukee's 3-1 head-to-head advantage over New York.

As a reminder, the NBA's Play-In Tournament will determine the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in both conferences. Four teams in each conference (the 7-10 seeds) will enter the Play-In Tournament, while the top six seeds will automatically qualify for playoff spots. The seventh- and eighth-placed teams will face each other for the No. 7 seed. The ninth- and 10th-placed teams will face each other in another game, and then the loser of the No. 7/No. 8 game will face the winner of the No. 9/No. 10 game for the No. 8 seed.

For the remainder of the season, this will be your one-stop shop playoff picture. We've got you covered on everything from the current standings to tiebreaker scenarios and magic numbers for both play-in spots and top-six seeds.

Here's where we stand entering play on Saturday, April 13.

Playoff bracket entering Sunday

West
(1) Thunder vs. (8) Suns/Lakers/Kings/Warriors
(2) Timberwolves vs. (7) Suns/Lakers
(3) Nuggets vs. (6) Pelicans
(4) Clippers vs. (5) Mavericks

East
(1) Celtics vs. (8) 76ers/Heat/Bulls/Hawks
(2) Bucks vs. (7) 76ers/Heat
(3) Knicks vs. (6) Pacers
(4) Cavaliers vs. (5) Magic