{"id":583313,"date":"2026-04-03T17:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583313\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T17:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:40:08","slug":"nba-standings-2026-updated-playoff-bracket-clinching-scenarios-through-april-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/583313\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA standings 2026: Updated playoff bracket, clinching scenarios through April 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA standings 2026: Updated playoff bracket, clinching scenarios through April 3<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Playoff basketball is almost here.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

It’s early April, meaning the 2026 NBA Playoffs will soon begin \u2014 but first, there’s plenty to be settled in the standings. While “tanking” teams have been a major storyline of the 2025-26 campaign, leaving far fewer questions over which franchises remain in contention, seeding will remain critical over the last days of the regular season.<\/p>\n

In the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons<\/a> continue to cruise toward the No. 1 seed despite Cade Cunningham’s recent absence, while the surging Boston Celtics<\/a> look like another favorite with Jayson Tatum’s return. The middle of the pack is where it gets interesting \u2014 between the Hawks<\/a>, 76ers<\/a>, Raptors<\/a>, Hornets<\/a>, Magic<\/a> and Heat<\/a>, only two teams will avoid the Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n

Out west, the San Antonio Spurs<\/a> are still in the running to catch the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> for the top seed. Three teams have already locked in Play-In bids in the Western Conference, including Stephen Curry’s Warriors \u2014 so the only other significant question will be how the first-round matchups play out.<\/p>\n

The playoffs are almost here. Below, you can find the latest breakdown of the 2025-26 NBA standings, including an updated playoff bracket projection.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

SN’s NBA HQ:\u00a0Live NBA scores<\/a> | Updated NBA standings<\/a>\u00a0| Full NBA schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

NBA standings 2026<\/p>\n

The tables below will be updated with the final NBA standings for the 2025-26 regular season.\u00a0Updated through Apr. 2 games.<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

Seed<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

Record<\/p>\n

Games Back<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Pistons*<\/p>\n

56-21<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Celtics*<\/p>\n

51-25<\/p>\n

4.5<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Knicks*<\/p>\n

49-28<\/p>\n

7.0<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

Cavaliers*<\/p>\n

48-29<\/p>\n

8.0<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

Hawks<\/p>\n

44-33<\/p>\n

12.0<\/p>\n

6.<\/p>\n

76ers<\/p>\n

42-34<\/p>\n

13.5<\/p>\n

7.<\/p>\n

Raptors<\/p>\n

42-34<\/p>\n

13.5<\/p>\n

8.<\/p>\n

Hornets<\/p>\n

41-36<\/p>\n

15.0<\/p>\n

9.<\/p>\n

Magic<\/p>\n

40-36<\/p>\n

15.5<\/p>\n

10.<\/p>\n

Heat<\/p>\n

40-37<\/p>\n

16.0<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Bucks<\/p>\n

30-46<\/p>\n

25.5<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Bulls<\/p>\n

29-47<\/p>\n

26.5<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Pacers<\/p>\n

18-58<\/p>\n

37.5<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Nets<\/p>\n

18-58<\/p>\n

37.5<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Wizards<\/p>\n

17-59<\/p>\n

38.5<\/p>\n

*clinched NBA Playoff berth<\/p>\n

Eliminated from NBA Playoff contention: Bucks, Bulls, Pacers, Nets, Wizards<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

Seed<\/p>\n

Team<\/p>\n

Record<\/p>\n

Games Back<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Thunder*<\/p>\n

61-16<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Spurs*<\/p>\n

59-18<\/p>\n

2.0<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Lakers*<\/p>\n

50-27<\/p>\n

11.0<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

Nuggets*<\/p>\n

49-28<\/p>\n

12.0<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

Rockets*<\/p>\n

47-29<\/p>\n

13.5<\/p>\n

6.<\/p>\n

Timberwolves<\/p>\n

46-30<\/p>\n

14.5<\/p>\n

7.<\/p>\n

Suns<\/p>\n

42-35<\/p>\n

19.0<\/p>\n

8.<\/p>\n

Trail Blazers**<\/p>\n

40-38<\/p>\n

21.5<\/p>\n

9.<\/p>\n

Clippers**<\/p>\n

39-38<\/p>\n

22.0<\/p>\n

10.<\/p>\n

Warriors**<\/p>\n

36-41<\/p>\n

25.0<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Grizzlies<\/p>\n

25-51<\/p>\n

35.5<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Pelicans<\/p>\n

25-52<\/p>\n

36.0<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Mavericks<\/p>\n

24-52<\/p>\n

36.5<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Jazz<\/p>\n

21-56<\/p>\n

40.0<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Kings<\/p>\n

20-57<\/p>\n

41.0<\/p>\n

*clinched NBA Playoff berth<\/p>\n

**clinched Play-In Tournament berth<\/p>\n

Eliminated from NBA Playoff contention: Grizzlies, Pelicans, Mavericks, Jazz, Kings<\/p>\n

MORE:Latest injury updates on Luka Doncic<\/a><\/p>\n

NBA Playoff bracket 2026<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at how the 2026 NBA Playoff bracket would look based on the current standings.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Updated through Apr. 2 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

(1) Pistons vs. (8) Play-in Winner<\/p>\n

(2) Celtics vs. (7) Play-in Winner<\/p>\n

(3) Knicks vs. (6) 76ers<\/p>\n

(4) Cavaliers vs. (5) Hawks<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

(1) Thunder vs. (8) Play-in Winner<\/p>\n

(2) Spurs vs. (7) Play-in Winner<\/p>\n

(3) Lakers vs. (6)\u00a0Timberwolves<\/p>\n

(4) Nuggets vs. (5)\u00a0Rockets<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Tracking NBA Awards eligibility<\/a><\/p>\n

NBA Play-In Tournament bracket 2026<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at how the 2026 Play-In Tournament would look based on the current standings.<\/p>\n

Updated through Apr. 2 games.<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

(7) Raptors vs. (8) Hornets<\/p>\n

(9) Magic vs. (10) Heat<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

(7) Suns vs. (8) Trail Blazers<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

(9) Clippers vs. (10) Warriors<\/p>\n

When do the NBA Playoffs start?<\/p>\n

Play-In Tournament:\u00a0April 14-17<\/p>\n

The 2025-26 regular season will end on Sunday, April 12, and the Play-In Tournament will then begin two days later on Tuesday, April 14. From there, the Play-In Tournament will take place over the next four days, with the playoffs set to begin on Saturday, April 18.<\/p>\n

How will the 2026 NBA Playoffs work?<\/p>\n

Similar to the format for the last few seasons, here is a rundown of how the 2026 NBA Playoffs will work:<\/p>\n

When the regular season ends, the top six seeds in each conference will automatically make the playoffs, while the teams ranked Nos. 7-10 will participate in the NBA Play-In Tournament over the course of four days.<\/p>\n

In each conference, the teams ranked Nos. 7 and 8 will play in the Play-In Tournament, with the winner moving on to play the No. 2 seed in each conference.<\/p>\n

The teams ranked Nos. 9 and 10 in each conference will play in a different Play-In Tournament game, with the loser being eliminated from playoff contention.<\/p>\n

The losers of the 7-8 games and the winners of the 9-10 games will then face off, with the winner earning the No. 8 seed in each conference and moving on to play the conference’s No. 1 seed.<\/p>\n

From there, the playoffs will follow the usual bracket format, with each series being a best-of-7 format.<\/p>\n

MORE:Updated 2026 NBA mock draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA standings 2026: Updated playoff bracket, clinching scenarios through April 3 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[155899,64,63,1664,12847,36177,19704,5676,10225,7214,7321,17422,16118,81480,7230,9473,12845,2873,11473,27323,590,13799,30982,7186,3907,5548,16120,129647,21938,10549,85,7903,9391,32783,7642,3198,7897,9390],"class_list":{"0":"post-583313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-boston-celtics","12":"tag-bucks","13":"tag-bulls","14":"tag-cade-cunningham","15":"tag-cavaliers","16":"tag-clippers","17":"tag-detroit-pistons","18":"tag-eastern-conference","19":"tag-grizzlies","20":"tag-hawks","21":"tag-hornets","22":"tag-jayson-tatum","23":"tag-jazz","24":"tag-knicks","25":"tag-lakers","26":"tag-luka-doncic","27":"tag-mavericks","28":"tag-nba","29":"tag-nba-playoffs","30":"tag-nba-standings","31":"tag-nets","32":"tag-nuggets","33":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","34":"tag-pacers","35":"tag-raptors","36":"tag-rockets","37":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","38":"tag-sports","39":"tag-stephen-curry","40":"tag-suns","41":"tag-timberwolves","42":"tag-trail-blazers","43":"tag-warriors","44":"tag-western-conference","45":"tag-wizards"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}