NBA Playoffs 2019: Latest Postseason Bracket, Standings and Title Picks

The Eastern Conference is on its way to the second round of the NBA playoffs, but the Western Conference still has business to take care of in the first round.

The Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs will play a decisive seventh game Saturday night (9 p.m. ET, TNT) in Denver. The Spurs responded Thursday night with a 120-103 victory to square the series at 3-3, with LaMarcus Aldridge scoring 26 points and DeMar DeRozan adding 25 for the winners.

San Antonio came through on its home court with a solid effort to overcome Nikola Jokic's 43 points for the Nuggets. The Spurs jumped out to a 10-point lead after the first quarter and dictated the pace of the game, something that Denver had accomplished in its three victories.

"They've been great at throwing a punch at us and running away with it," DeRozan said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). "We tried to sustain that and understand whatever they do we have to match it, be more aggressive, understand we have to keep our rhythm, being aggressive on both ends and we did that."

Updated NBA Postseason Bracket

Eastern Conference

First Round

No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks 4, No. 8 Detroit Pistons 0 (Bucks advance to second round)

No. 2 Toronto Raptors 4, No. 7 Orlando Magic 1 (Raptors advance to second round)

No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers 4, No. 6 Brooklyn Nets 1 (76ers advance to second round)

No. 4 Boston Celtics 4, No. 5 Indiana Pacers 0, (Celtics advance to second round)

Second Round

No. 1 Milwaukee vs. No. 4 Boston, series gets underway Sunday, April 28

No. 2 Toronto vs. No. 3 Philadelphia, series gets underway Saturday, April 27

Western Conference

First Round

No. 1 Golden State Warriors 3, No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers 2

No. 2 Denver Nuggets 3, No. 7 San Antonio Spurs 3

No. 3 Portland Trail Blazers 4 No. 6 Oklahoma City Thunder 1 (Trail Blazers advance to second round)

No. 4 Houston Rockets 4, No. 5 Utah Jazz 1 (Rockets advance to the second round)

(Upcoming NBA playoff schedule)

The Golden State Warriors, who have lost two of their three home games to the Los Angeles Clippers, will attempt to close out their series Friday in Los Angeles.

The Warriors take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 of the series after dropping a 129-121 decision Wednesday night in a game that was marked by Lou Williams scoring 33 points off the bench for the visitors.

The two-time defending NBA champions have played much better basketball on the road, winning both of their games in Los Angeles.

"In L.A, we played really hard. The last two home games, we let our guard down," said Golden State head coach Steve Kerr, per Mark Medina of the East Bay Times. "We should know from watching the Clippers all year that this is a competitive fun team that enjoys playing. They're not going to go away. You have to put them away by competing."

The third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers and the fourth-seeded Houston Rockets await the winners of those two series.

The second round in the Eastern Conference gets underway Saturday as the Toronto Raptors host the Philadelphia 76ers.

Both teams won their first-round series over the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets, respectively, in identical fashion. The Raptors and Sixers both lost the first game of their series at home before reeling off four consecutive wins.

Joel Embiid averaged 24.8 points and 16.5 rebounds for the Sixers against the Nets, and he managed those lofty totals even though he played just 24.3 minutes per night as a result of a sore knee. Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons both averaged better than 17 points per game for Philadelphia in the series. 

Toronto was led by Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam in its win over the Magic. Leonard averaged 27.8 points per game and shot 55.6 percent from the field against Orlando, while Siakam contributed 22.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in the series.

The powerful Bucks and Celtics square off in Game 1 of their second-round series Sunday in Milwaukee. The Bucks swept the overmatched Detroit Pistons in the first round, while the Celtics were sharp as they ended the Indiana Pacers' season in four straight games.

The Bucks won't have guard Malcolm Brogdon for the first two games of the series as a result of a plantar fascia tear in his right foot.

"We'll reassess him after the first two," Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer said, per Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We're hopeful that it (his return) will be this series. He's been kind of on track and meeting (benchmarks), but he's still got some hurdles to cover. An important 5-6 days here. We'll assess it when we kind of get through this next little wave."

Title predictions

The Golden State Warriors have not been impressive in their first-round series against the Clippers, and if Los Angeles can find a way to win at home Friday night, it will extend the series to seven games.

That does not seem likely, but even if the series gets that far, the Warriors are not going to lose in the first round.

Once they survive this scare, Golden State seems likely to return to top form in the second and third rounds. The Warriors will be playing for the NBA title once again.

The Bucks should be able to handle the Celtics, although that series could go seven games, and the Raptors will get the best of the Sixers. Milwaukee is just a tad better than Toronto, and the Bucks will advance to the championship round against the Warriors.

While the Bucks have the potential league MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and home-court advantage, the Warriors will play up to their massive talent level and defeat the Bucks in the championship series.

Look for Golden State to win its third consecutive NBA title in six games.