The 2026 NBA playoff picture is nearly set with just a handful of regular-season games remaining this weekend. Ten teams — the Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Cavaliers, Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets and Wolves — have clinched playoff spots so far. Two more, and most of the postseason seeds, will be decided in the coming days. The Celtics have a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in the East on Thursday night as they face the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

On Wednesday night, the Thunder clinched the No. 1 seed in the West and the best record in the NBA as they picked up their 64th win of the season with a victory against the Clippers. Five seeds are set in the West: the Thunder at No. 1, Spurs at No. 2 and Wolves at No. 6. The Suns are locked into the No. 7 seed in the play-in, while the Warriors will be the No. 10 seed.

Seeding is more jumbled in the East. The Pistons have the No. 1 seed locked up, and the Celtics can earn the No. 2 seed with another win, but things are muddied further down the standings. The Hawks and Raptors control their own destinies as they try to lock up the No. 5 and 6 seeds and avoid the play-in, but just 2.5 games separate the No. 5 Hawks and No. 9 Hornets, with either two or three games remaining for each team.

The final day of the regular season will be on Sunday (April 12). Between now and then, we will be updating this playoff picture each day to keep you up to date on the standings, important magic numbers, all relevant tiebreakers and our SportsLine projections.

Here is where we stand entering play on Thursday, April 9.

*Tiebreaker note: All tiebreakers are included for teams currently within one game (or one seed) of each other, but will only be listed in the current higher seed’s section.

2026 NBA Playoff Picture

If the season ended today…

Play-In Tournament

East: No. 7 Magic vs. No. 8 76ers | No. 9 Hornets vs. No. 10 HeatWest: No. 7 Suns vs. No. 8 Clippers | No. 9 Trail Blazers vs. No. 10 Warriors

East first round
No. 1 Pistons vs. No. 8 TBD
No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 TBD
No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Raptors
No. 4 Cavaliers vs. No. 5 Hawks

West first round
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 TBD
No. 2 Spurs vs. No. 7 TBD
No. 3 Nuggets vs. No. 6 Timberwolves
No. 4 Lakers vs. No. 5 Rockets

Western Conference standings

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-16)

SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed

2. San Antonio Spurs (61-19)

SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed

3. Denver Nuggets (52-28)

Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Lakers clinchedTiebreaker vs. Rockets: Nuggets clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 3 seed

4. Los Angeles Lakers (50-29)

Tiebreaker vs. Rockets: Lakers clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 4 seed

5. Houston Rockets (50-29)

SportsLine projection: No. 5 seed

6. Minnesota Timberwolves (47-33)

SportsLine projection: No. 6 seed

7. Phoenix Suns (44-36)

SportsLine projection: No. 7 seed

8. Los Angeles Clippers (41-39)

Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Clippers lead 2-1SportsLine projection: No. 8 seed

9. Portland Trail Blazers (40-40)

Tiebreaker vs. Warriors: Blazers clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 9 seed

10. Golden State Warriors (37-42)

SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed

Eastern Conference standings

1. Detroit Pistons (58-22)

SportsLine projection: No. 1 seed

2. Boston Celtics (54-25)

Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1SportsLine projection: No. 2 seed

3. New York Knicks (51-28)

Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 3 seed

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (51-29)

SportsLine projection: No. 4 seed

5. Atlanta Hawks (45-34)

Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Raptors clinchedTiebreaker vs. 76ers: Hawks clinchedTiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinchedTiebreaker vs. Magic: Hawks clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 6 seed

6. Toronto Raptors (44-35)

Tiebreaker vs. 76ers: 76ers clinched (via division record)Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Raptors clinched (via conference record)Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Raptors clinchedTiebreaker vs. Heat: Raptors clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 5 seed

7. Orlando Magic (44-36)

Tiebreaker vs. 76erfs: 76ers clinchedTiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets clinchedTiebreaker vs. Heat: Magic clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 8 seed

8. Philadelphia 76ers (43-36)

Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: 76ers clinchedTiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 7 seed

9. Charlotte Hornets (43-37)

Tiebreaker vs. Heat: Heat clinchedSportsLine projection: No. 9 seed

10. Miami Heat (41-38)

SportsLine projection: No. 10 seed

Who’s clinched?

The Pistons, Celtics, Knicks and Cavaliers have clinched playoff spots in the East.The Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, Nuggets, Rockets and Wolves have clinched playoff spots in the West.The Thunder have clinched the No. 1 seed in the West, the best record in the league and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.The Pistons have clinched the No. 1 seed in the East.The Suns, Clippers, Trail Blazers and Warriors are locked into the West’s Play-In Tournament.The Heat are locked into the East’s Play-In Tournament.

Notable magic numbers

Hawks’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 1Raptors’ magic number to clinch playoff spot: 3