NBA Playoffs 2017: Latest Standings and Postseason Matchups

The only suspense remaining in the NBA postseason race revolves around who will land the final remaining playoff spots in each conference.

Right now, it looks like Miami could be left in the cold in the Eastern Conference after Indiana, Chicago and Atlanta won on Thursday, while Portland currently has an edge on Denver for the final spot in the West.

Here's a look at the latest NBA standings and the postseason matchups if the season ended today.

Place	Team	W	L	GB
1	Cleveland - y	51	27	0
2	Boston - y	50	29	1.5
3	Toronto - y	48	31	3.5
4	Washington - y	48	31	3.5
5	Atlanta	40	38	11
6	Milwaukee	40	39	11.5
7	Chicago	39	40	12.5
8	Indiana	39	40	12.5
9	Miami	38	40	13
10	Charlotte	36	43	15.5
11	Detroit	35	43	16
12	New York - e	30	49	21.5
13	Philadelphia - e	28	51	23.5
14	Orlando - e	28	51	23.5
15	Brooklyn - e	19	60	32.5

Place	Team	W	L	GB
1	Golden State - z	65	14	0
2	San Antonio - y	60	18	4.5
3	Houston - y	53	25	11.5
4	Utah - x	48	30	16.5
5	Los Angeles Clippers - x	48	31	17
6	Oklahoma City - x	45	33	19.5
7	Memphis - x	42	37	23
8	Portland	39	40	26
9	Denver	37	41	27.5
10	New Orleans - e	33	45	31.5
11	Dallas - e	32	46	32.5
12	Sacramento - e	31	47	33.5
13	Minnesota - e	31	47	33.5
14	Los Angeles Lakers - e	23	55	41.5
15	Phoenix - e	22	57	43

Eastern Conference Postseason Matchups (Through Thursday, April 6)

No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 8 Indiana

The Pacers don't have a realistic path to winning this playoff series. Indiana beat Cleveland once in four tries this year, but the Cavs played that game, a 103-93 loss, without LeBron James.

Indiana is a mediocre NBA team, ranking 15th in offensive efficiency and 18th in defensive efficiency, per ESPN.com. Furthermore, Indiana has the fourth-worst rebounding differential in the NBA.

Don't be surprised to see Pacers small forward Paul George will Indiana to one victory with a big performance, but the Cavs should win this series in four or five games.

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 7 Chicago

The Bulls have won seven of their last 10 games and could well finish the regular season taking 10 of 13 as they play last-place Brooklyn twice and 13th-place Orlando once to close the year.

That positive momentum should undoubtedly help Chicago in the playoffs, but most importantly, shooting guard Dwyane Wade should return before the postseason, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN.com:

Wade's comeback, plus the emergence of forward Nikola Mirotic (17.1 points per game since March 13), should pose a challenge to Boston.

That being said, the Celtics' five starters are all healthy at the same time (point guard Isaiah Thomas, center Al Horford, shooting guard Avery Bradley and small forward Jae Crowder have missed a combined 57 games) and they also have home-court advantage.

Don't be surprised if this series goes deep, but Boston should advance to the second round.

No. 3 Toronto vs. No. 6 Milwaukee

Point guard Kyle Lowry returned to the Raptors' starting lineup after he missed 21 games due to a wrist injury, and he looked fantastic in a 105-102 win over Detroit, scoring 27 points and dishing 10 assists in 42 minutes.

Milwaukee went 14-4 in March thanks in large part to wing Khris Middleton's return to the starting lineup. Middleton, who missed the first half of the season with a hamstring injury, averaged 17.3 points per game during that month.

The Bucks' March run is all the more impressive considering that forward Jabari Parker has been out for the year with a torn ACL since February 10.

That being said, with a healthy Lowry in the mix, in addition to the midseason acquisitions of forwards Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker, Toronto should make quick work of Milwaukee en route to the second round.

No. 4 Washington vs. No. 5 Atlanta

The Wizards had the worst bench in the NBA earlier this season, but midseason acquisitions of wing Bojan Bogdanovic and point guard Brandon Jennings as well as the return of backup center Ian Mahinmi from injury have turned Washington's second unit into a strength.

The streaky Atlanta Hawks are trending downward heading into the postseason (should they even make it), losing nine of their last 12, although they did post an impressive win over Boston on Thursday night.

That should lead to a fairly easy series win for Washington, leading to a potential dynamite matchup with Cleveland in the semifinals.

Western Conference Postseason Matchups (Through Thursday, April 6)

No. 1 Golden State vs. No. 8 Portland

The Warriors received some pleasant news this week, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com:

Golden State is hard enough to beat without Durant, but with him back in the fold, it's hard seeing any team beating the Warriors through the Finals.

The Dubs are a heavy favorite to advance to the NBA Finals, per OddsShark. Even though Portland midseason trade acquisition Jusuf Nurkic has averaged 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds in just 29.2 minutes per game, the Blazers are going to have a tough time even winning a game in this series.

No. 2 San Antonio vs. No. 7 Memphis

San Antonio and Memphis play at two of the slowest paces in the NBA, per ESPN.com, and they also rank first and sixth in defensive efficiency, respectively.

The two division rivals split four matchups this season. Most notably, a team only cracked 100 points once, when Memphis beat San Antonio, 104-96 on March 18.

Like the other NBA playoff matchup between a No. 2 seed and a No. 7 seed, this could go deep. That would go against the recent trend of San Antonio sweeping Memphis in the postseason, which has happened twice in four years.

No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 Oklahoma City

How many rounds can Russell Westbrook will Oklahoma City through?

Based on how Oklahoma City looked in an 137-125 loss to Houston in March, Westbrook's impressive one-man tear will stop in the first round.

During that game, Trevor Ariza (24 points, six boards, six assists) crushed the Thunder as a stretch power forward, creating a serious mismatch problem, and trade-deadline acquisition Lou Williams came off the bench and scored 31.

It will be hard for Oklahoma City, which relies too heavily on Westbrook to make things happen on offense, to beat Houston, which has a ton of scoring depth (seven players in the rotation score at least 11.8 points per game).

No. 4 Utah vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers' big three of center DeAndre Jordan, point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin are finally healthy at the same time. Therefore, it's hard (but certainly not impossible) to envision Utah pulling through even though it has home-court advantage at this moment.

That being said, Utah center Rudy Gobert has dominated the NBA in the second half of the season. He averaged 17.9 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game in March. The Jazz went 10-5 in the 15 March games Gobert played (he missed one, a 112-104 loss to Oklahoma City). Furthermore, the Jazz already beat the Clippers with their big three on the court this year, a 114-108 win in Salt Lake City in March.

Los Angeles has taken three of four games from Utah this season, though, and is determined to finally make the Western Conference Finals with this core. It probably won't happen this year with Golden State looming in a potential semifinals matchup, but the window is closing for the Clips' big three to find more substantial postseason success.