NBA Playoff Picture 2024: Reviewing Latest Bracket Scenarios for East, West

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the 2024 NBA playoff picture is coming into focus.

The 10 teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs are close to being set, with only the order to be determined.

Things are a little more jumbled in the Western Conference, including for the final play-in spot thanks to the surging Houston Rockets riding an 11-game winning streak entering Saturday.

Here are the updated standings in both conferences, as well as key scenarios to watch over the final stretch of the regular season.

Eastern Conference Standings

1. Boston Celtics (57-16): Clinched No. 1 seed and home-court advantage

2. Milwaukee Bucks (46-27)

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (45-29)

4. New York Knicks (44-29)

5. Orlando Magic (42-31)

6. Indiana Pacers (42-33)

7. Miami Heat (40-33)

8. Philadelphia 76ers (39-35)

9. Chicago Bulls (35-39)

10. Atlanta Hawks (34-39)

11. Brooklyn Nets (29-45)

Eliminated: Toronto Raptors (23-50), Charlotte Hornets (18-55), Washington Wizards (14-60). Detroit Pistons (13-61)

Western Conference Standings

1. Minnesota Timberwolves (51-22)

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-22)

3. Denver Nuggets (51-23)

4. Los Angeles Clippers (46-27)

5. New Orleans Pelicans (45-28)

6. Dallas Mavericks (44-29)

7. Phoenix Suns (43-31)

8. Sacramento Kings (42-31)

9. Los Angeles Lakers (41-33)

10. Golden State Warriors (39-34)

11. Houston Rockets (38-35)

Eliminated: Utah Jazz (29-45), Memphis Grizzlies (24-49), Portland Trail Blazers (19-55), San Antonio Spurs (18-56)

Playoff standings and scenarios via NBA.com.

Only one game separates the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets in the top three spots in the Western Conference.

The Timberwolves' 111-98 victory over the Nuggets on Friday night gave them a 2-1 advantage in the regular-season series with one more game between the two on April 10 at Ball Arena.

Oklahoma City won three of four games against the Nuggets.

Minnesota and Oklahoma City split their four head-to-head meetings. The tiebreakers between these three teams gets very complicated if they end up with the same record.

The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record. The second tiebreaker is division record. Minnesota currently owns a 12-3 record in the Northwest Division, followed by Oklahoma City (12-4) and Denver (8-6).

If the Timberwolves and Thunder were to finish with identical overall records and divisional records, the next tiebreaker is conference record. Minnesota is 35-12 against Western Conference opponents, three games better than Oklahoma City (33-16).

Beyond the top three teams in the Western Conference, two games separate the Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks for seeds four through six.

The Mavs are two games up in the loss column on the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings in the race to avoid the play-in tournament. Phoenix feels like it will be lucky to stay in the No. 7 spot based on its schedule to close the season.

The Suns' final eight games are all against teams in playoff contention, including two each against the Pelicans, Clippers and Timberwolves. They have been much better, for whatever reason, against teams with winning records (22-13) than teams under .500 (23-24).

Their closing stretch does leave the door open for at least one of the Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Rockets to make a move.

The Lakers' loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night wound up not hurting them in the race as they chase a top-eight seed because the Suns and Kings both lost. They have a very favorable three-game stretch to wrap up their current road trip with matchups against the Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards.

Houston's fate is almost certainly going to be decided over the next 10 days. Its next six games are against the Dallas Mavericks (twice), Minnesota Timberwolves, Warriors, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic.

In particular, the April 4 game between the Rockets and Warriors could decide the No. 10 seed. Golden State has already won the season series, but this will be the first head-to-head matchup between the two teams since Nov. 20.

There is much less drama in the Eastern Conference, with the Celtics having wrapped up the No. 1 seed on March 24.

Donovan Mitchell's return to the lineup for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Friday's win over the Philadelphia 76ers makes the race for the No. 2 seed interesting. They are only two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks in the loss column and currently own the tiebreaker based on division record.

The New York Knicks are right on the Cavs' heels and holding steady, despite still being without Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. They seem like a safe bet to stay in the top four now that the Orlando Magic have lost three straight.

Orlando really needs to take advantage of playing the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls in four of its next five games to fight off the Pacers and Heat in the sixth and seventh spots.

Speaking of the Bulls, they are tied in the loss column with the Hawks in the race for home-court advantage in the 9-10 play-in game. Chicago has one more win at this point, but recent losses to the Wizards and Nets are a tough look.

The Bulls do own the season tiebreaker over the Hawks, but Atlanta can make a move when these two teams play one more time on April 1 in Chicago.