by 
The Philadelphia 76ers clinched 64 combined points from Joel Embiid and James Harden as they defeated the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. The Sixers remain tied with the No. 2 Celtics with 14 games left in the losing column.
If the playoffs started today, the No. 5 Knicks would face the Cavs in the first round.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the state of the Eastern Conference playoffs and play-in races that come into play on Thursday. This post will be updated daily for the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are won.
Reminder of how the play-in tournament works: #7 plays against #8 and #9 against #10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the #7, while the loser plays against the winner of the 9-10 game for the #8.
READ: Western Conference playoff image
NOTE: Developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, our SportsLine model simulates the entire season 10,000 times to create the most unbiased and accurate predictions imaginable.
- Projected Seed: 1
- Current first round encounter: open
- Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Philadelphia: Sixers lead 2-1 with one to play
- Projected Seed: 2
- Current first round encounter: Winner of the Heat/Hawks play-in
- Tiebreakers vs. Milwaukee: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Philadelphia: Boston closed
- Tiebreaker against Cleveland: Cavs bracketed
- Projected Seed: 3
- Current first round encounter: against Brooklyn
- Tiebreakers vs. Milwaukee: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Philadelphia: Boston closed
- Tiebreaker against Cleveland: Cavs lead over Conference Win Percentage
- Projected Seed: 4
- Current first round encounter: against New York
- Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Cavs closed
- Tiebreaker vs Philadelphia: Cavs lead via Conference Win Percentage
- Tiebreaker against New York: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
5. New York Knicks (41-30)
- Projected Seed: 5
- Current first round encounter: in Cleveland
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Knicks lead 2-1 with a play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Knicks currently own the Via Division winning percentage
- Tiebreaker against Miami: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play
6. Brooklyn Nets (39-30)
- Projected Seed: 6
- Current first round encounter: in Philly
- Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs New York: Knicks currently own the Via Division winning percentage
- Tiebreaker against Miami: Nets lead 2-0 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Nets lead 2-1 with a play
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
7.Miami Heat (38-33)
- Projected Seed: 7
- Current first round encounter: vs. Hawks (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker against New York: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Miami won
- Tiebreaker against Toronto: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Miami leads 2-1 with one to play
8.Atlanta Hawks (34-35)
- Projected Seed: 8th
- Current first round encounter: in Miami (play in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-1 with a play
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat clung
- Tiebreaker against Toronto: Atlanta won
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Atlanta leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Chicago: The Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play
9. Toronto Raptors (33-36)
- Projected Seed: 9
- Current first round encounter: vs. Wizard (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker against Atlanta: Hawks clipped
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clung
- Tiebreaker vs Chicago: Raptors clung
10.Wizards (32-37)
- Projected Seed: 10
- Current first round encounter: at Raptors (Play-In)
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers currently own the winning percentage over the conference
- Tiebreaker vs Chicago: The bulls currently own the winning percentage over the conference
LOOKING INSIDE OUTSIDE
11.Chicago Bulls (31-37)
- Projected Seed: lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clung
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The bulls currently own the winning percentage over the conference
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clung
12. Indiana Pacers (31-38)
- Projected Seed: lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Pacers clung
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Pacers currently own the winning percentage over the conference
- Tiebreaker vs Chicago: Pacers clung
