NBA Playoff Picture 2025: Updated Bracket, Standings After Cavs Clinch Spot

The Cleveland Cavaliers are having one of their best seasons in franchise history, and now they are officially playoff-bound.

The Cavs ensured they would at least make the play-in tournament last month, but a 112-107 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday secured Cleveland at least a No. 6 seed or better. The next task for the Cavaliers is securing the top seed in the East. Considering their sizable lead over the rest of the field, that shouldn't be too hard.

Now that the first team has clinched a playoff berth, here's a look at the updated standings.

Eastern Conference Standings

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (51-10)*
2. Boston Celtics (44-18)
3. New York Knicks (40-21)
4. Milwaukee Bucks (36-25)
5. Indiana Pacers (35-25)
6. Detroit Pistons (35-28)
7. Miami Heat (29-32)
8. Orlando Magic (29-34)
9. Atlanta Hawks (28-34)
10. Chicago Bulls (24-38)
11. Brooklyn Nets (21-40)
12. Philadelphia 76ers (21-40)
13. Toronto Raptors (20-42)
14. Charlotte Hornets (14-47)
15. Washington Wizards (12-49)

*Clinched playoff berth

The top six teams in each conference automatically make the playoffs. The seventh through 10th seeds in each conference take part in two play-in tournaments to determine the final two teams in the East and West playoff brackets.

Western Conference Standings

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (51-11)
2. Los Angeles Lakers (39-21)
3. Denver Nuggets (40-22)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (38-24)
5. Houston Rockets (37-25)
6. Golden State Warriors (34-28)
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (35-29)
8. Los Angeles Clippers (33-29)
9. Sacramento Kings (32-29)
10. Dallas Mavericks (32-31)
11. Phoenix Suns (29-33)
12. Portland Trail Blazers (28-35)
13. San Antonio Spurs (26-34)
14. New Orleans Pelicans (17-45)
15. Utah Jazz (15-47)

The past few years in the Eastern Conference have seen teams outside of the top three make deep playoff runs. The Miami Heat even went to the Finals as a No. 8 seed in 2023.

That likely won't be the case this year, as the favorites to come out of the East are currently at the top of the standings.

The Cavs are having a historically good season behind Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and others. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Cleveland made its first Finals since LeBron James was in town.

To get to the Finals, the Cavaliers would have to get through the defending champion Boston Celtics.

The Celtics went through a bit of a midseason slump, but that tends to happen with championship teams. If their core is healthy come playoff time, the Celtics will be one of the favorites to come out of the East.

The New York Knicks were a game away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago and have all the makings to get there this year with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.

It's also impossible to count out a Milwaukee Bucks team led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, but the team's health will be one of the most important factors.

From there, it's hard to imagine the Pacers, Pistons, Heat or others making a run, but we've seen upsets in the past.

Things are a bit different in the Western Conference, as there are contenders all across the standings.

The Oklahoma City Thunder looked poised for a Finals run with MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a tremendous supporting cast leading the way. The Thunder, like Cleveland, are having a historically good year and have very few flaws, with the fourth-best offensive rating and the best defensive rating in the league, per NBA.com.

The new-look Los Angeles Lakers led by LeBron James and Luka Dončić are also more than capable of contending this year. Some questioned how the Lakers would fare without much depth in the frontcourt, but they've only gotten better since trading Anthony Davis.

Nikola Jokić's Denver Nuggets have become perennial contenders over the last few years, and that's no different this season. There are some concerns with Denver's defense, but having an offensive mastermind like Jokić makes up for the defensive lapses.

Those three teams seem to have the best chance of coming out of the West, but pretty much any team in the current playoff mix is capable of making a deep run.