NBA Playoff Picture 2017: Updated Postseason Bracket, Races to Watch

Both the Eastern and Western Conferences have playoff spots up for grabs leading into the NBA's final few games. Furthermore, some important seeds need to be decided before the playoffs begin.

Here's a look at the latest playoff brackets through April 6 as well as a discussion of the five most important races going into the final stretch.

First Round	Semifinals	Finals
No. 1 Cleveland
No. 8 Indiana
No. 4 Toronto	No. 1/8 winner vs.
No. 5 Atlanta	No. 4/5 winner
		Semifinal winners
No. 3 Washington	No. 2/7 winner vs.
No. 6 Milwaukee	No. 3/6 winner
No. 2 Boston
No. 7 Chicago

First Round	Semifinals	Finals
No. 1 Golden State
No. 8 Portland
No. 4 Utah	No. 1/8 winner vs.
No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers	No. 4/5 winner
		Semifinal winners
No. 3 Houston	No. 2/7 winner vs.
No. 6 Oklahoma City	No. 3/6 winner
No. 2 San Antonio
No. 7 Memphis

Races to Watch

Portland vs. Denver for No. 8 Seed in West

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining Schedule	Playoff Probabilities
8. Portland	39	40	UTAH, SAS, NO	84.7 %
9. Denver	37	41	NO, OKC, @ DAL, @ OKC	15.3 %

The Trail Blazers are in the driver's seat for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference after beating Minnesota last night, giving them a 39-40 record and a 1.5-game advantage over Denver with three matchups left.

Portland also has the tiebreaker advantage over the 37-41 Nuggets by virtue of winning the season series, 3-1.

The Trail Blazers are at home, where they are 23-15 this year, for all three of their remaining regular-season games, hosting New Orleans, Utah and San Antonio. All three are tough opponents, though it's doubtful San Antonio goes full throttle considering its No. 2 seed is already locked up.

Portland's magic number is currently two, meaning any combination of Portland wins and Denver losses that adds up to two will get the Blazers into the playoffs.

The Fight for the Final Four Eastern Conference Playoff Spots

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining Schedule	Playoff Probabilities
5. Atlanta	40	38	@ CLE, CLE, CHA, @ IND	95.1 %
6. Milwaukee	40	39	@ PHI, CHA, @ BOS	95.7 %
7. Chicago	39	40	@ BRO, ORL, BRO	90.3 %
8. Indiana	39	40	@ ORL, @ PHI, ATL	81.9 %
9. Miami	38	40	@ TOR, @ WSH, CLE, WSH	36.7 %
10. Charlotte	36	43	BOS, @ MIL, @ ATL	0.2 %

Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Miami and Charlotte are still alive to grab one of the final four playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, but it looks like the former four teams are going to hold serve and make the postseason.

Miami's schedule is brutal down the stretch, and Charlotte needs to win out to even have a shot at making the postseason. That doesn't look likely considering its tough schedule.

Therefore, this could be a race to avoid the No. 8 spot and a date with the No. 1 seed, which should be Cleveland, in the first round.

Atlanta and Milwaukee have the clear advantages given their one-win edges over Chicago and Indiana, but the Bulls are facing the worst team in the NBA (Brooklyn) twice and one of the worst teams in the NBA (Orlando) to close the year. Indiana doesn't have that luxury.

Given Chicago's schedule, it's hard seeing the Bulls sliding into the No. 8 spot. Considering that the Bulls have the tiebreaker over Indiana by virtue of having a better division record, it looks like the Pacers could be headed to Cleveland to start the playoffs.

Los Angeles vs. Utah for the No. 4 Seed in the West

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining Schedule
4. Utah	48	30	MIN, @ POR, @ GSW, SAS
5. Los Angeles	48	31	@ SAS, HOU, SAC

The Clippers and Jazz are almost guaranteed to face each other in the first round of the NBA playoffs at this point. The only point of debate is whether Los Angeles or Utah will have home-court advantage.

The edge goes to the Clippers, who have the easier schedule down the stretch. Although they are playing San Antonio and Houston, neither of those teams has much to play for as they are locked into their playoff seeds.

Meanwhile, Utah has tough matchups at Portland, which is fighting for its playoff life, and Golden State, which is an incredible 34-4 at home.

Granted, the Dubs have nothing to play for until the playoffs either, but as we've seen in the past, the Warriors can miss one of their stars and not miss a beat. Also, Oracle Arena is the toughest place for any road team to play.

Toronto vs. Washington for the No. 3 Seed in the East

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining Schedule
3. Toronto	48	31	MIA, @ NYK, @ CLE
4. Washington	48	31	MIA, @ DET, @ MIA

Toronto and Washington are currently tied for the No. 3 seed at 48-31. The Raptors hold the tiebreaker over the Wizards by virtue of a 3-1 head-to-head record.

This is a race to potentially avoid Cleveland, which will likely be the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference postseason.

Toronto looks to have the slight edge. The Raptors are 10-3 in their last 13 games and now have point guard Kyle Lowry back after he missed 21 games due to a wrist injury.

The Raps will be favorites against Miami at home and New York on the road in their next two. Even though Toronto has a tough game at Cleveland to close the season, it's conceivable that the Cavs will have clinched the No. 1 seed at that point and use the opportunity to rest their stars.

However, don't sleep on the Wizards, who are 41-18 after starting the season 7-13.

Cleveland vs. Boston for the No. 1 Seed in the East

Team	Wins	Losses	Remaining Schedule
1. Cleveland	51	27	ATL, @ ATL, @ MIA, TOR
2. Boston	48	31	@ CHA, BRO, MIL

It looks likely that Cleveland will hang on to the No. 1 seed, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Like Portland, Cleveland's magic number to clinch first is two, meaning that any combination of Cleveland wins and Boston losses that adds up to two will get it done.

Therefore, all the Cavs need to do is split their remaining four games to gain home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Don't be surprised to see the Cavs go all-out to win its home-and-home series with Atlanta and then rest LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for their last two games should they beat the Hawks twice.

All playoff probability percentages are courtesy of the Playoff Probabilities Report found on basketball-reference.com.