NBA Playoff Picture 2018: Updated Postseason Bracket, Races to Watch
Only five of the 16 spots in the 2018 NBA playoffs are still up for grabs with less than a week remaining on the regular-season schedule.
But almost every team in or near the postseason picture has a reason to do a lot of scoreboard-watching over the final stretch.
Save for the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors—the West's first and second seeds, respectively—every team is within three games or less from the squad above or beneath it in the standings. That includes three different ties heading into the final weekend.
In other words, you can throw a dart at the postseason board and probably hit a race that's too close to call. But after running through the current standings and bracket, we'll highlight the races most worth your attention.
NBA Standings
Eastern Conference
1. x-Toronto Raptors: 56-22
2. x-Boston Celtics: 53-25
3. x-Cleveland Cavaliers: 49-30
4. x-Philadelphia 76ers: 48-30
5. x-Indiana Pacers: 47-32
6. x-Miami Heat: 43-36
7. x-Washington Wizards: 42-37
8. x-Milwaukee Bucks: 42-37
9. e-Detroit Pistons: 37-41
10. e-Charlotte Hornets: 34-45
11. e-Chicago Bulls: 27-51
12. e-New York Knicks: 27-51
13. e-Brooklyn Nets: 26-53
14. e-Orlando Magic: 24-54
15. e-Atlanta Hawks: 22-57
Western Conference
1. y-Houston Rockets: 64-15
2. y-Golden State Warriors: 57-22
3. x-Portland Trail Blazers: 48-31
4. Utah Jazz: 46-33
5. San Antonio Spurs: 45-34
6. Oklahoma City Thunder: 45-34
7. New Orleans Pelicans: 44-34
8. Minnesota Timberwolves: 44-35
9. Denver Nuggets: 44-35
10. Los Angeles Clippers: 42-37
11. e-Los Angeles Lakers: 34-44
12. e-Sacramento Kings: 25-54
13. e-Dallas Mavericks: 24-55
14. e-Memphis Grizzlies: 21-57
15. e-Phoenix Suns: 20-59
*y-clinched a division title; x-clinched a playoff berth; e-eliminated from playoff contention
Updated Postseason Bracket
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 8 Milwaukee Bucks
No. 2 Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 Washington Wizards
No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 6 Miami Heat
No. 4 Philadelphia 76ers vs. No. 5 Indiana Pacers
Western Conference
No. 1 Houston Rockets vs. No. 8 Minnesota Timberwolves
No. 2 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 7 New Orleans Pelicans
No. 3 Portland Trail Blazers vs. No. 6 Oklahoma City Thunder
No. 4 Utah Jazz vs. No. 5 San Antonio Spurs
Races to Watch
East's No. 3 Seed
This might be the only undecided race with championship implications. On one side there's LeBron James, the Association's only player with an annual pass to the Finals. On the other you have the Philadelphia 76ers, owners of the league's longest winning streak (12) and the East's best net rating in 2018 (plus-9.0, second overall).
This is the best battle remaining, and it will take center stage when the Cavs travel to Philly on Friday night (7 p.m. ET on NBA TV). Cleveland enters with a 2-1 lead in the season series, so if it can take care of business, it's almost assuredly locked into the third seed. But if Philly can protect its home floor, it could be a big step toward creating a relatively smooth path to the conference finals.
"We have 20,000 fans who are going to be rowdy fans for that game," Philadelphia center Amir Johnson said, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We definitely want to treat it as a playoff game."
The difference between the third and fourth seeds looks gigantic.
Fall to No. 4, and that probably means a semifinals bout with the Toronto Raptors—the East's best team by winning percentage (.718) and efficiency (plus-7.7). Get to No. 3, though, and the second-round opponent might be the Boston Celtics—a team that recently announced it will be without top scorer and distributor Kyrie Irving for the rest of this season and the playoffs.
East's No. 7 Seed
This isn't as much a race between the Heat, Wizards and Bucks as it is a strategic tussle to emerge from this three-team block with the seventh seed in hand.
The reward is the same as the battle for No. 3, only it comes a round earlier.
"Finishing seventh would set up a first-round series against Boston's badly crippled roster, based on the Celtics essentially being locked into the No. 2 spot with only a handful of regular-season games remaining," NBA.com's Steve Aschburner wrote. "That should have Miami, Milwaukee and Washington ... scoreboard-watching and angling in what's left of their schedules to set up the preferred matchup."
Granted, manipulating the standings in this manner is an inexact science at best. It's not only about winning and losing the right amount of games, it's also hoping the other teams in the mix all cooperate.
That said, it's still something worth trying given what's at stake. Consensus opinions aren't easy to find in professional sports, but it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to draw a different top-four seed in the East given the state of the Shamrocks.
West's Nos. 4, 5, and 6 Seeds
There's such a tight bunch in the back half of the West's playoff bracket that teams are more worried about simply getting a ticket as opposed to a preferred seed. But there's plenty to gain from avoiding a bottom-two seed and instead slotting into the fourth, fifth or sixth lines.
Think about it. If you're fourth, you're opening the series on your home floor. If you're fifth, you're probably getting your statistical equal—or something close to it—in the first round. If you're sixth, you're most likely matching up with Portland—and, much more importantly, avoiding an early collision with Houston or Golden State.
The Rockets have objectively been this season's best team. They have a backcourt for the ages, an all-time offense, a top-10 defense and a near-double-digit average margin of victory (plus-9.0 points per game).
The Warriors have objectively been the best team since 2014-15. Their All-Star collection is unrivaled—it's historically stacked when Stephen Curry is healthy and still loaded when he isn't—they can control games on either end and their bench has been the West's most efficient.
After them, there's a canyon before getting to the rest of the teams in the West. Given the high odds of a Houston-Golden State meeting in the conference finals, avoiding them for as long as possible is the best option for playoff survival.
Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com.
