by The New York Knicks defeated the Blazers on Tuesday. Combined with Brooklyn’s loss to Oklahoma City, the Knicks move back up to No. 5 in the East.
The Milwaukee Bucks have won 21 of their last 23. The latest win came Tuesday in Phoenix and secured a playoff spot for the Bucks — the first team to do so.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the state of the Eastern Conference playoffs and play-in races that come into play on Wednesday. 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 became the first team to earn at least a top-six finish with their win over Phoenix on Tuesday.
- 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
Boston lost to the Rockets on Monday and is now three times behind Milwaukee in the loss column with one matchup remaining. The Celtics are tied in the losing column with No. 3 Philly with the tiebreaker secured.
- 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 tied with No. 2 Boston in the loss column. Boston has the tiebreaker.
- 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 2-1 with one to play
The Cavs have a three-loss lead over the No. 5 Knicks and No. 6 Nets, with two head-to-head matches against each remaining.
- Projected Seed: 4
- Current first round encounter: against New York
- 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. New York Knicks (41-30)
In their quest to stay above the play-in line, the Knicks have a three-loss lead ahead of the No. 7 run, with two head-to-head matches remaining.
- 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 win percentage
- Tiebreaker against Miami: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play
6. Brooklyn Nets (39-30)
Brooklyn has three losses ahead of Miami, No. 7, with two head-to-head matches remaining. You’re in the driver’s seat to stay above the line of play.
- 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 win 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 (37-33)
Miami is three points behind No. 5 New York and No. 6 Brooklyn in the loss column, with two matchups remaining against each other. They lead the No. 8 Hawks with three effective games with the tiebreaker secured.
- 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)
Atlanta is three 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 (33-36)
Toronto is in the losing column with the No. 11 Bulls with a secured tiebreaker and one loss ahead of the No. 10 Wizards.
- Projected Seed: 11
- 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)
The Wizards are technically back in the play-in-by-win percentage, but they actually trail No. 10 Chicago by one in the loss column.
- Projected Seed: 9
- 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 (31-36)
The Bulls actually lead the No. 10 Wizards by a margin in the losing column, but for now they see their name under the play-in line as per the current win percentage.
- Projected Seed: 10
- 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
