With fewer than two weeks left in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, the standings are doing what they always do in late March and early April: making everyone nervous in public.
Teams are jockeying for position before the NBA playoffs begin on April 18. The top six teams in each conference will earn an automatic playoff berth when the regular season ends. Teams seeded seven through 10 will head to the play-in tournament on April 14-17, where the last two playoff spots in each conference will be decided.
After 10 teams were eliminated from contention, the 20 postseason teams are now set. They are in the bracket or headed to the play-in, which at least saves everyone from pretending the math is still open-ended.
Nine games are scheduled for Wednesday, and several of them could matter for seeding. There is also one Eastern Conference clinching scenario worth watching as the night unfolds.
Playoff picture
Teams that have already clinched a playoff berth
Western Conference
- Oklahoma City Thunder (60-16)
- San Antonio Spurs (57-18)
- Los Angeles Lakers (50-26)
- Denver Nuggets (48-28)
Eastern Conference
- Detroit Pistons (55-21)
- Boston Celtics (50-25)
- New York Knicks (48-28)
Teams eliminated from postseason contention
Western Conference
- Memphis Grizzlies (25-50)
- New Orleans Pelicans (25-51)
- Dallas Mavericks (24-52)
- Utah Jazz (21-55)
- Sacramento Kings (19-57)
Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee Bucks (30-45)
- Chicago Bulls (29-46)
- Brooklyn Nets (18-58)
- Washington Wizards (17-58)
- Indiana Pacers (17-58)
Eastern Conference scenarios
- The Cavaliers can clinch a playoff berth with a loss by the Sixers.
That is the kind of late-season help teams usually welcome, assuming they are not the team doing the losing.
