NBA Playoff Picture 2015: Standings and Outlook as Postseason Approaches

Just because one game is left in the 2014-15 NBA season doesn't mean the playoff picture is anywhere near settled.

Whether it's Western Conference playoff-bound squads battling down to the wire for seeding or the fights for the No. 8 spot in both conferences, the final days of the season have been filled with far-reaching postseason implications. Potential playoff matchups seem to change by the day, but thankfully some clarity is right around the corner.

So much is up in the air, and Monday night's 12-game slate didn't do too much to change that. Let's take a look at the updated playoff picture with 81 games in the books and break down how things are looking with the postseason fast approaching.

Seed	Team	W	L	GB
Pos.	Team	W	L
1	Golden State Warriors*	66	15	-
2	San Antonio Spurs*	55	26	11
3	Houston Rockets*	55	26	11
4	Portland Trail Blazers*	51	30	15
5	Los Angeles Clippers*	54	26	11.5
6	Memphis Grizzlies*	54	27	12
7	Dallas Mavericks*	49	32	17
8	New Orleans Pelicans	44	37	22
In the Hunt
9	Oklahoma City Thunder	44	37	22

Seed	Team	W	L	GB
Pos.	Team	W	L
1	Atlanta Hawks*	60	21	-
2	Cleveland Cavaliers*	42	29	8
3	Chicago Bulls*	49	32	11
4	Toronto Raptors*	48	32	11.5
5	Washington Wizards*	46	34	13.5
6	Milwaukee Bucks*	41	40	19
7	Boston Celtics*	38	42	21.5
8	Indiana Pacers	37	43	22.5
In the Hunt
9	Brooklyn Nets	37	44	23
10	Miami Heat	36	45	24

Note: * indicates team has clinched playoff berth

Rock Fight out East

Steven Senne/Associated Press

An Eastern Conference team five or more games below .500 is going to make the playoffs. But which one will it be?

The Boston Celtics already clinched a spot and are looking likely to finish with the seventh seed, months after they traded Rajon Rondo and essentially marked the start of a full-blown rebuild from a front office standpoint. But head coach Brad Stevens has worked magic with an underrated core of young players who know their role and has the C's back in the postseason—albeit with a different feel from years past.

Boston's clinching makes it a three-horse race for the eighth and final spot between Indiana, Brooklyn and Miami—who are separated by a game and a half in the standings. The Pacers hold a half-game lead and have two to play, while the Nets and Heat have one game to go.

The Nets' loss Monday to Chicago puts Indiana in control of its own destiny—win those final two games, and the Pacers are in. As for that team that won the East each of the last four years, Bleacher Report's Ethan J. Skolnick mapped its bumpy road to the postseason after Monday's win kept its hopes alive:

Hot finishes to the season from Boston and Indiana (both 7-3 in their last 10) lead one to wonder if either can challenge the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks and No. 2 Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. At the very least, it could at least produce a bit more fireworks than the first round typically does in the East.

But the conference's lopsidedness is no secret. No matter who joins the Celtics as sub-.500 teams in the playoffs, it will be going up against two teams that are a combined 112-50 and have essentially been on autopilot for the last week or more preparing for a long playoff run.

Conventional wisdom may suggest that the last two teams to come out of the East will only be prolonging their seasons by a few games. But don't think that's going to make the race any less intense down the home stretch.

The Wild West

Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

The playoff teams in the Western Conference are known—with one exception. But pinpointing exactly how things will shake out induces a massive headache, even with just one game left in the season.

Golden State has a shiny 11-game lead over the pack, and Portland is guaranteed No. 4 after clinching its division, but the rest of the top-six seeds are up in the air. San Antonio, Memphis, Houston and the Los Angeles Clippers are all jammed within one game of each other, vying for the coveted No. 2 seed.

Without going into detail of wacky tiebreakers, the Clippers can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win alongside Spurs and Rockets losses. They would finish No. 3 should one of those two teams falter, but a loss Tuesday night to the Phoenix Suns could push them as far back as No. 6.

Those teams can all rest easy knowing nothing more than seeding is on the line, but the same can't be said of the race for the eighth and final spot. The injury-depleted Oklahoma City Thunder and upstart New Orleans Pelicans are tied with one game to go, but the latter holds the tiebreaker.

Both teams won Monday night, leaving the scenario simple—Pelicans win, and they're in. But OKC can also sneak in by winning its season finale in Minnesota, if New Orleans also falls to the Spurs. 

Don't think that means Russell Westbrook is going to be pulling for a divisional rival, however, per ESPN's Royce Young:

The number of ways the seedings can end will make your head spin, but this is going to be a show no matter how things shake out.

There are MVP favorites in Steph Curry and James Harden leading peaking championship contenders. Look further, and you'll find veteran-laden rosters primed to put their best basketball together at the right time to take down those who have been standing out all season.

Heck, two of the most electrifying players—Westbrook and Anthony Davis—have been duking it out for weeks for a spot to even get into the party. According to them, the playoffs started a while ago.

It may be somewhat top-heavy out East, and the Warriors have certainly made the case that the top of the West is pretty weighted, too. But with more impressive top-to-bottom depth than ever before, the Western Conference is bound to produce its most memorable playoffs in some time.