NBA Playoffs: Miami Heat secure ticket

After the second victory of the Miami Heat over the Boston Celtics within two days, the reigning Eastern champion is now safely in the playoffs, while the Celtics will probably be in the play-in tournament. SPOX has an overview of the race for the playoff places.

A total of eight teams have been able to participate in the playoffs since Wednesday night after the Heat made everything clear with a 129:121 win in Boston and later lost the New York Knicks at the Los Angeles Lakers.

Miami, Atlanta and New York have the same record, but the Heat have the tiebreaker against New York and can no longer be pushed out of the top six places. The three teams should fight for places four, five and six by the end of the season.

Eastern Conference: These playoff teams have been determined

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
1	Philadelphia 76ers	47	22
2	Brooklyn Nets	45	24
3	Milwaukee Bucks	44	25
4	Atlanta Hawks	38	31
5	Miami Heat	38	31
6	New York Knicks	38	31

bold = playoff participation safe

Play-in tournament: Boston is almost certain to be there

Behind the top 6, it remains exciting. With the seventh defeat in the last ten games, the Celtics are now almost certainly in the play-in tournament, another defeat or a victory for the Knicks would seal this fate.

The Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers, on the other hand, are already sure to participate, now it’s only for the Washington Wizards to defend a place against the Chicago Bulls. With another Wizards victory or another Wizards defeat that would be done. Then it would only be about the positions, with Boston having the best cards in seventh place.

Eastern Conference: The race for the play-in tournament

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
7	Boston Celtics	35	34
8	Charlotte Hornets	33	36
9	Indiana Pacers	33	36
10	Washington Wizards	32	37
11	Chicago Bulls	29	40

bold = play-in participation is guaranteed

As a reminder: this is how the play-in tournament works!

Play-in in the east according to today’s status:

Game 1: (7) Boston vs. (8) Charlotte – the winner goes into the playoffs as a 7-seed
Game 2: (9) Indiana vs. (10) Washington – the winner remains in the play-in tournament, the loser is eliminated
Game 3: Loser from Boston / Charlotte vs. winner from Indiana / Washington – the winner goes into the playoffs as an 8-seed

Das Playoff-Picture in der Western Conference

In the west, the Lakers gained some air by defeating the Knicks and could possibly still prevent seventh place, with one game missing for the Trail Blazers (5) and the Mavericks (6), who, however, also each have the tiebreaker against Los Angeles have. So they still don’t have the best cards, even if LeBron James is supposed to return next night.

The Nuggets, on the other hand, secured their home advantage at least in round one with their victory in the night and are still behind the Clippers for third place.

Western Conference: These playoff teams have been determined

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
1	Utah Jazz	50	19
2	Phoenix Suns	48	21
3	L.A. Clippers	46	23
4	Denver Nuggets	45	24

bold = playoff participation safe

Play-in tournament: who has to play against the Warriors?

Over the past few days, the Golden State Warriors (currently 8th place) have turned out to be the favorite scare after victories over the Jazz and Suns. “We were the hunted for years. Now we’re hunting again,” said Draymond Green, satisfied afterwards. And now the question arises as to which of them is hunted and how. The lead over the ninth-placed Grizzlies is only half a game, and not much is possible upwards.

But they are unlikely to fall any lower than in ninth place. The pelicans and kings hardly have any chances left. Spicy: Memphis and Golden State have to face each other again on the last day of the game.

Western Conference: The race for the play-in tournament

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
5	Portland Trail Blazers	40	29
6	Dallas Mavericks	40	29
7	Los angeles lakers	39	30
8	Golden State Warriors	37	33
9	Memphis Grizzlies	36	33
10	San antonio spurs	33	35
11	New Orleans Pelicans	31	38
12	Sacramento Kings	31	38