by There were two seeding changes in the Eastern Conference playoff picture on Saturday: the Nets jumped the Knicks to 5th place and the Bulls jumped the Wizards to the last play-in spot.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the state of affairs in the East, coming into play on Sunday, March 12th. 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.
The Bucks fell at the Golden State on Saturday and now have just a two-loss lead over No. 2 Boston with a head-to-head match remaining that will also decide the tiebreak.
- 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
2. Boston Celtics (47-21)
After Milwaukee’s loss to Golden State and their own win over Atlanta on Saturday, Boston now lies two points behind the Bucks in the loss column with a head-to-head match remaining that will decide the tiebreak.
- 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
The Sixers are just one behind No. 2 Celtics in the loss column, but Boston won the tiebreak, leaving an effective two-game deficit.
- Projected Seed: 3
- Current first round encounter: against New York
- Tiebreakers vs. Milwaukee: Draw 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Philadelphia: Boston closed
- Tiebreaker against Cleveland: Cavs lead 2-1 with one to play
4th Cleveland Cavaliers (42-27)
The Cavs have a two-loss lead over the No. 5 Nets and a three-loss lead over the No. 6 Knicks, each with two pending head-to-head matches against each other.
- Projected Seed: 4
- Current first round encounter: against Brooklyn
- Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Cavs closed
- Tiebreaker vs Philadelphia: Cavs lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker against New York: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
5. Brooklyn Nets (38-29)
Brooklyn jumps to No. 5 after New York’s loss to the Clippers on Saturday.
- Projected Seed: 6
- Current first round encounter: in Cleveland
- 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
6. New York Knicks (39-30)
The Knicks fell behind Brooklyn in their loss to the Clippers on Saturday. In their quest to stay above the play-in line, the Knicks have a three-game lead over the No. 7 Heat with two head-to-head matches remaining.
- Projected Seed: 5
- Current first round encounter: in Philly
- 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
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
7.Miami Heat (36-33)
Miami missed a chance to gain ground against the No. 6 Knicks, who lost to the Clippers, with a loss in Orlando on Saturday. Miami is still three points behind a playoff spot.
- 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 (34-34)
After losing to Boston on Saturday, Atlanta remains two games behind Miami, the No. 7 who owns the tiebreaker.
- 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 (32-36)
Toronto lost to the Lakers on Friday to level in the losing column with the No. 10 Bulls and No. 11 Wizards.
- Projected Seed: 10
- Current first round encounter: vs. Bulls (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker against Atlanta: Hawks clipped
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Draw 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clung
- Tiebreaker vs Chicago: Raptors clung
10.Chicago Bulls (31-36)
The Bulls jumped into the play-in picture with a win over Houston on Saturday. Chicago currently owns the tiebreaker over Washington by conference win percentage.
- Projected Seed: lottery
- Current first round encounter: at Raptors (Play-In)
- Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clung
- Tiebreaker vs. Washington: The bulls currently own the winning percentage over the conference
- Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clung
LOOKING IN FROM THE OUTSIDE
11.Wizards (31-36)
The Wizards fell to Atlanta again on Friday and are now in the losing column with the No. 10 Bulls as they attempt to hold on to a play-in berth.
- Projected Seed: 9
- 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
12. Indiana Pacers (30-37)
The Pacers are a loss behind the 9-11 seeds.
- 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
