NBA Standings 2019: Updated Playoff Picture, Bracket Heading into Final Games

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The NBA has reached the deep home stretch, and even as nearly all of the playoff spots were decided, there are a few positions that remain unclaimed. Those spots are all within the Eastern Conference. Five teams have clinched a playoff berth. However, five teams continue to be in competition for the very last 3. The Milwaukee Bucks have clinched the Central Division to identify and feature a brilliant hazard at gaining home-court advantage through the playoffs. However, the groups fighting for the ultimate 3 positions within the Eastern Conference have no longer decided anything at this point. The Detroit Pistons are in the 6th vicinity inside the standings and could seem to have a good chance of their playoff function. However, the Nets, in the seventh location, and the Heat, in eighth place, are in jeopardy. The Orlando Magic, in 9th place, and the Charlotte Hornets, in the tenth area, are each nonetheless alive within the playoff race. Here’s a projection of the playoff standings and a look at several groups’ schedules worried about key races.

2019 NBA Playoffs Standings Projection
Eastern Conference
Team, Record, No. Of Games final
1. Y-Milwaukee Bucks, 57-20, five
2. X-Toronto Raptors, fifty four-23, five
3. X-Philadelphia 76ers, forty nine-27, 6
4. X-Boston Celtics, forty five-32, 5
5. X-Indiana Pacers, 45-32, 5
6. Detroit Pistons, 39-37, 6
7. Orlando Magic, 38-39, five
8. Miami Heat, 38-38, 6
9. Brooklyn Nets, 39-38, five
10. Charlotte Hornets, 35-forty one, 6

Western Conference

1. X-Golden State Warriors, fifty two-24, 6
2. X-Denver Nuggets, fifty one-25, 6
3. X-Houston Rockets, forty nine-28, 5
4. X-Portland Trail Blazers, 48-28, 6
5. X-Utah Jazz, 46-30, 6
6. X-Los Angeles Clippers, forty six-31, 5
7. X-San Antonio Spurs, 44-33
8. X-Oklahoma City Thunder, 44-33
*x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division

In the Western Conference, all eight playoff spots had been claimed. What is not certain, though, is how those eight teams might be placed after the last regular-season games are played. The Warriors have a one-recreation lead over the Nuggets, and either one of those groups should end first or 2d. The Rockets have a 1/2-sport lead at the Trail Blazers, and people groups are maximum probably to complete 1/3 or fourth. The Jazz are a half-game beforehand of the Clippers, and those teams are probable to complete 5th and sixth, even as the Spurs and Thunder are tied for seventh—one will end in that position, and the alternative will end eighth. The Warriors host the Nuggets Tuesday, and that sport virtually can influence the race for the first vicinity.

The Warriors appear to have the benefit in scheduling, given that simply one of these games (apart from the meeting with the Nuggets) is in opposition to a group in the playoff structure, even as all however certainly one of Denver’s closing video games are towards teams headed for the postseason. If the Warriors take gain in their scenario and end first, the 7th race is vital. As nicely because the Nuggets have played, the two-time protecting champion Warriors are clearly the group that might seem like the more hard matchup in a playoff series. The Spurs have the higher risk of finishing in seventh and, in all likelihood, gambling the Nuggets because one of their last games is towards a playoff crew, whilst 3 of Oklahoma City’s games are against teams inside the playoff shape.

In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics and the Pacers have similar schedules inside the race for the fourth region. The winner receives a domestic court docket advantage in their first-round playoff matchup. The Pacers host the Celtics on April 5, but additionally, they have a domestic-and-home collection with the Pistons and a home game with the Nets. The other recreation on Indiana’s agenda is a road game with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Celtics have a home-and-domestic collection with the Heat in addition to a domestic recreation towards the Magic and a road game with the Washington Wizards, a non-playoff crew. The Nets are looking to hold directly to the No. 7 spots. However, they face Milwaukee two times and Toronto, accompanied via games against the Pacers and Miami. The Heat apparently has a less complicated course with the two games towards the Celtics followed through video games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Raptors, 76ers, and the season finale with the Nets.

Both of those schedules are some distance extra tough than Orlando’s. The Magic face the Raptors, observed via the New York Knicks, Hawks, Celtics, and the Hornets. The Nets could easily cross 1-four in the one’s 5 ultimate video games, whilst the Heat might appear to have a better chance of going 2-three. Meanwhile, Orlando could finish three-2. If that situation simply described plays out, Orlando would be in the playoffs despite their modern 9th-vicinity reputation, and the Nets might be at the outdoor looking in.