The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially clinched a playoff spot. The 54-15 Thunder became the first team to qualify for the 2026 NBA playoffs, clinching a top-six spot in the West thanks to the Suns’ loss to the Timberwolves on Tuesday night. The Thunder started the season 24-1 and are 12-1 in their last 13 games after an 18-13 stretch in the middle of the season.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers knocked off the Houston Rockets on Monday to tie the season series 1-1. They play again Wednesday night to decide the season tiebreaker, which could have major seeding implications with a single loss currently separating the two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is but one of many seeding races across both conferences that look to be headed for a photo finish as we are less than a month out from the close of the 2025-26 NBA<\/a> regular season. The final day of games will be on Sunday, April 12. Between now and then, we will be updating this playoff picture each day to keep you up to date on the standings, important magic numbers, all relevant tiebreakers, and our SportsLine projections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here is where we stand entering play on Wednesday, March 18.<\/p>\n *Tiebreaker Note: All tiebreakers are included for teams currently within one game (or one seed) of each other, but will only be listed under the current higher seed’s section.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2026 NBA Playoff PictureIf the season ended today…<\/p>\n Play-In Tournament East first round West first round Western Conference standings<\/p>\n At the top of the West, No. 2 San Antonio still has an outside shot to catch the No. 1 Thunder, but one way or another those are going to be the top two teams. After that, just two games separate the 3-6 seeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Oklahoma City Thunder (54-15)Tiebreaker vs. Spurs: Spurs clinchedSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 1 seed2. San Antonio Spurs (51-18)Tiebreaker vs. Thunder:\u00a0Spurs clinchedSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 2 seed3. Los Angeles Lakers (43-25)Tiebreaker vs. Rockets:\u00a0Series tied 1-1SportsLine\u00a0projection: No. 4 seed4. Houston Rockets (41-26)Tiebreaker vs. Nuggets: Nuggets ownTiebreaker vs. Wolves: Rockets lead 1-0 (two to play)SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 3 seed5. Denver Nuggets (42-27)Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves:\u00a0Nuggets ownTiebreaker vs. Suns: Nuggets ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 6 seed6. Minnesota Timberwolves (42-27)Tiebreaker vs. Suns: Suns ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 5 seed7. Phoenix Suns (39-30)Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Suns ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 7 seed8. L.A. Clippers (34-34)Tiebreaker vs. Warriors:\u00a0Clippers lead 2-1SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 8 seed9. Golden State Warriors (33-35)Tiebreaker vs. Blazers: Portland ownsSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 9 seed10. Portland Trail Blazers (33-36)SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 10 seedEastern Conference standings<\/p>\n In the East, Detroit has a firm hold on the top spot over Boston and the tiebreaker already clinched. The Celtics are focused on holding off the No. 3 Knicks, who are trying to hold off the No. 4 Cavs, who are trying to hold off the No. 5 Raptors, who are one game up on the Magic. So yeah, it’s tight.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Detroit Pistons (49-19)Tiebreaker vs. Celtics:\u00a0Pistons ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 1 seed2. Boston Celtics (45-23)Tiebreaker vs. Knicks: Knicks lead 2-1SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 2 seed3. New York Knicks (45-25)Tiebreaker vs. Cavaliers: Knicks ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 3 seed4. Cleveland Cavaliers (42-27)Tiebreaker vs. Magic: Cavs lead 2-1SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 4 seed5. Toronto Raptors (38-29)Tiebreaker vs. Heat:\u00a0Raptors lead 2-0SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 6 seed6. Orlando Magic (38-30)Tiebreaker vs. Raptors: Series tied 1-1Tiebreaker vs. Heat:\u00a0Miami ownsSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 7 seed7. Miami Heat (38-31)Tiebreaker vs. Sixers:\u00a0Series tied 1-1Tiebreaker vs. Hawks:\u00a0Heat lead 2-1SportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 5 seed8. Atlanta Hawks (37-31)Tiebreaker vs. Hornets: Hornets ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 8 seed9. Philadelphia 76ers (37-32)Tiebreaker vs. Hawks:\u00a076ers ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 9 seed10. Charlotte Hornets (35-34)Tiebreaker vs. Hawks:\u00a0Hornets ownSportsLine projection:\u00a0No. 10 seedNotable magic numbersOKC’s magic number to clinch West’s No. 1 seed: 11Detroit’s magic number to clinch East’s No. 1 seed: 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oklahoma City Thunder have officially clinched a playoff spot. 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East: No. 7 Heat<\/a> vs. No. 8\u00a0Hawks<\/a>\u00a0, No. 9\u00a076ers<\/a>\u00a0vs. No. 10 Hornets<\/a>
West: No. 7 Suns<\/a> vs. No. 8 Clippers<\/a>, No. 9 Warriors<\/a> vs. No. 10 Trail Blazers<\/a><\/p>\n
No. 1 Pistons<\/a> vs. No. 8 76ers\/Heat\/Hawks\/Hornets
No. 2 Celtics<\/a> vs. No. 7 Heat\/76ers
No. 3 Knicks<\/a> vs. No. 6 Magic
No. 4 Cavaliers<\/a> vs. No. 5\u00a0Raptors<\/a><\/p>\n
No. 1 Thunder<\/a> vs. No. 8 Clippers\/Suns\/Warriors\/Blazers
No. 2 Spurs<\/a> vs. No. 7 Suns\/Clippers
No. 3 Lakers<\/a> vs. No. 6 Timberwolves<\/a>
No. 4 Rockets<\/a> vs. No. 5 Nuggets<\/a><\/p>\n