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2024 NBA Playoffs: Bracket, standings, latest playoff picture as season enters final month – USA TODAY
As March comes to a close, the NBA regular season nears its conclusion. Only about a dozen games remain for each of the 30 teams, and there is still plenty on the line down the stretch.
That’s true for every team but the Boston Celtics, who have already clinched the Eastern Conference regular season title with their 57-15 record. Outside of the Celtics, the East has four teams still jockeying for the No. 2 seed, all within four games of each other in the standings. The last guaranteed playoff spot – the No. 6 seed – is also up for grabs between three teams within 1.5 games of each other.
In the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves are still the only teams that have clinched postseason berths. They’re also the three teams vying for the top seed and home-court advantage in the West, all separated by just 1.5 games.
Here’s how the playoff picture currently looks with just a few weeks left to play in the regular season.
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Current after March 26 games. The top 6 teams in each conference automatically make the playoffs. Teams in positions 7-10 qualify for the play-in tournament.
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Here’s how the first round of the playoffs would shake out in the East if the season ended after Monday.
Here’s how the matchups look with the current standings in the Western Conference.
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The NBA Play-In Tournament, with its current system implemented for the 2021 playoffs, allowed each conference to expand its potential playoff field from eight teams to 10. The seventh- through 10th-ranked teams in each conference at the end of the regular season play in a four-day tournament to decide the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the first round of the playoffs.
In one set of games, the seventh-place team for each conference hosts the eighth-place finisher. The winners in each conference gets the No. 7 seed in their brackets.
In another set of games, the ninth-ranked team in each conference hosts the 10th-place team. The winners of those games play the losers of the seventh place vs. eighth place matchups to determine the No. 8 seed in their respective conferences.
This year, the play-in tournament begins April 16 and concludes April 19. The first round of the NBA playoffs begin April 20.
Here’s how things currently look for the play-in in the East:
Here’s how things currently look for the play-in in the West:
The first round of the NBA playoffs begins April 20. Depending on how quickly first-round matchups are decided, the conference semifinals begin either May 4-5 or May 6-7. The conference finals are scheduled to begin May 21-22 but could move to May 19-20 pending conference semifinal results.
The NBA Finals begin June 6.