By Henry L. Liao
Making it to the NBA’s children’s party (the play-in) and the “real season” that the NBA playoffs are:
EAST
(top 6 automatically to the playoffs starting April 20 Manila time; and No. 7 to No. 10 in play-in starting April 16 MT)
1-CLEVELAND (64-17)
The Cavs started the regular wars on fire with a 15-0 getaway but eventually tapered off to hand the distinction of having the NBA’s best record to Oklahoma City. For whatever it’s worth, the Wine City outfit is one of only two teams to own 30-win finishes at home (34-6 entering tomorrow’s game against visiting Indiana) and on the road (30-11). Donovan Mitchell (24 ppg), Jerome Allen (9.9 rpg) Darius Garland (6.7 apg, along with 20.6 ppg), and Evan Mobley (1.6 bpg, along with 18.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg) lead the team in their respective stats department and the 6-11 Mobley is the frontrunner for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year citation.
2-BOSTON (60-21)
The Celtics own a better record on the road (NBA-best 33-8) than at home (27-13 heading into tomorrow’s game vs. Charlotte). A major concern is the health of high-priced Jaylen Brown (22.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.5 apg) who reportedly took painkilling shots in his right knee a few days ago. Jayson Tatum (26.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6 apg) leads the Celtics pack. Another health concern is Latvian big Kristaps Porzingis (19.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg). Then there’s three-point threat Payton Pritchard (14.1 ppg), who is the leading candidate for the NBA Sixth Man Award.
3-NEW YORK (50-31)
Knicks meal ticket Jalen Brunson (26 ppg, 7.3 apg) is back. Sorry Karl-Anthony Towns (24.4 ppg, NBA third-best 12.8 rpg), Jalen is still No. 1 in Gotham City) after weeks of recovering from an injury. New York has slowed down with a three-game losing streak and five defeats in its last 10 assignments but looks to win at sad-sack Brooklyn tomorrow. Indiana could tie New York at 50-32 with a Knicks loss but New York beat the Pacers, 2-1, in their head-to-head matchup to earn the tie-breaker advantage and clinch the No. 3 seed.
4-INDIANA (49-33)
The Pacers will be at Cleveland tomorrow. Pascal Siakam (20.2 ppg) paces seven players in double-digit scores, including Tyrese Haliburton (18.6 ppg), who has recovered from an early-season funk, Bennedict Mathurin (16.1 ppg) and Myles Turner (15.6 ppg), who ranked second in the league in shot blocks at two a game behind only Utah’s Walter Kessler (2.4 bpg).
5-MILWAUKEE (47-34)
A game left vs. Detroit tomorrow. Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg) will finish as the NBA’s No. 2 leading scorer behind the league’s presumptive MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.7 ppg) of Oklahoma City and the Bucks will be on the road to start their first-round playoff series against Indiana.
6-DETROIT (44-37)
A game left at Milwaukee. After an abysmal 14-68 record a year ago, the Pistons are in the playoffs with at least a 30-game turnaround under first-year coach J.B. Bickerstaff. All-Star guard Cade Cunningham is a strong candidate for any of the three All-NBA teams with season averages of 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds.
PLAY-IN
7-ORLANDO (41-40)
On the road against Atlanta tomorrow. The Magic would end the season with at least a .500 record and be crowned (ahem) as the Southeast Division champion even as four other members in the division will have losing records. Orlando will host the 7-8 play-in game against Atlanta. The winner will take the No., 7 seed. The loser still has a chance to romp away with the No. 8 seed if it beats the winner of the 9-10 play-in contest.
8-ATLANTA (39-42)
Will host Orlando tomorrow. Hawks star Trae Young has beaten Denver’s triple-double king Nikola Jokic for the NBA assist crown, 11.6 apg to 10.3 while topping the Hawks in scoring at 24.2 ppg.
9-CHICAGO (38-43)
Will travel to Philadelphia for its finale tomorrow. Bulls and Hawks ended their season series at 2-2 but the Hawks own the tie-breaker advantage, thus are locked in at No. 9. . Playmaker Coby White (20.6 ppg, 4.5 apg) has taken over Chi-town following the trade of Zach LaVine to Sacramento, Nikola Vucevic owns a double (18.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg) but it’s the Australian guard Josh Giddey (14.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 7.2 apg) who has been hogging the headlines recently with his triple-double sprees, now at 10, second most in the NBA behind Denver’s Nikola Jokic (34 T-D)s. The Bulls are assured of at least the No. 9 spot, having beaten Miami, 3-0, in their head-to-head season series,
10-MIAMI (37-44)
Hosts Washington in its finale. It was all downward for the heat following the unsavory departure of star Jimmy Butler (now with Golden State). Tyler Herro (23.9 ppg, 5.5 apg, 5.2 rpg), Bam Adebayo (18.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Andrew Wiggins, the main man acquired by the Heat in the Butler trade, have taken up the cudgels for a team that is going nowhere in the play-in, let alone in the playoffs.
![NBA playoff bracket [photo credit: NBA Instagram]](http://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot_174.png)
WEST
1-OKLAHOMA CITY (67-14)
Already the owner of the best regular record in the league this season, the Thunder play at New Orleans tomorrow seeking the sixth-best regular mark in NBA history – trailing 2025-16 Golden State (73-9),1995-96 Chicago (72-10), 1971-72 LA Lakers (69-13), 1996-97 Chicago (69-13) and 1966-67 Philadelphia (68-13, when only 81 games were played by each team). No question, the head of the OKC snake is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (an NBA-best 32.7 ppg, 6.4 apg, 5 rpg, 1.7 spg). But his supporting cast – headed by Jalen Williams (21.6 ppg) and the two-headed monster Chet Holgrem (15 ppg, 8 rpg) and Isaac Hartenstein (11.2 ppg, team-best 10.7 rpg)- are just as venomous whey they bite.
2-HOUSTON (52-29)
The Rockets host Denver in a meaningless game but with playoff-seeding implications for the Nuggets. Under coach Ime Udoka has transformed into a legit title contender. Fil-Am Jaylen Green (21.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.5 apg), if he plays tomorrow, will be the only player to suit up all 82 games and start them all. Dillon Brooks (14. 1ppg) makes life hard for the opposition with his physicality and trash-talking/taunting, guard Fred VanVeet (14.1 ppg, 5.6 apg) can score in bunches in a hurry and second-year frontliner Amen Thompson (14 ppg, 8.2 rpg) is a threat on both ends of the floor but what glues the team is the play of much-improved Turkish big fella Alperen Sengun (19.2 ppg, team-best 10.4 rpg, 4.9 apg). The Rockets await the winner of the 7-8 play-in game (yet to be determined going into tomorrow’s playdate) in their first-round, best-of-seven playoff series.
3-LA Lakers (50-31)
Play at Portland in a game that rookie Lakers coach is most likely to sit out the regulars. The Lakers have clinched the No. 3 playoff berth in the West and have a week’s layoff due to their automatic playoff status after having gone through the play-in tournament in each of the past two seasons. It’s been a long time since the Lakers topped the Pacific Division and reached the 50-win plateau in a single season. And because they are a division champ, a tiebreaker formula, Denver is no longer in a position to steal the No. 3 seed even if the Lakers lose and Denver wins over Houston tomorrow for an identical 50-32 record. The Lakers split their four-game season series against the Nuggets (2-2) and defeated the LA Clippers (who are currently tied with Denver at 49-32), three games to one, in head-to-head confrontations. Even though he was only the “second choice” with no coaching experience in college or in the NBA in whatever capacity (except doing podcasts with LeBron James that he has since terminated to focus on his latest jig), rookie Lakers coach Jonathan Clay (JJ) Redick has made everyone in Tinseltown forget the decision of Dan Hurley, who had piloted UConn to NCAA titles in 2023 and 2024, to spurn the Lakers last summer despite a lucrative contract proposal. Take that, Hurley has put in the work and made good on his two promises in preseason last October – Steer to the Lakers to a 50-win finish and make the playoffs outright with a high seeding. The seismic trade acquisition of Luka Doncic from Dallas for Anthony Davis (thanks for all the good memories from your Lakers past) on February 2 and the much-improved All-Star play of Austin Reaves following the All-Star break have rejuvenated 40-year-old LeBron James, who himself has played exceptionally well for his advanced age – Redick is just six months older than James). Doncic has averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 feeds and 1.6 thefts in the 28 games he has worn the Purple and Gold. James, a candidate for All-NBA honors, has played 70 games (one needs a minimum of 65 games and at least 20 minutes per game to qualify for the NBA individual and team awards) and normed 24.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg and 8.2 apg – numbers that don’t impress Stephen Smith anyway and in any form. Reaves, who has been hitting at a clip of nearly 25 scores since February, could be the X-factor for the Lakers in the playoffs, where the team is going against the No. 6 seed (still undermined as of today) in the first round. The fancy lobs sent to center Jaxson Hayes by the multi-dimensional stars Luka and LeBron have been fun to watch even as the opposition still has to solve this riddle. Wondering why this part of the article is so long? Well, forgive me for I am simply a dyed-in-the-wool Lakers fan since 1975 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left Milwaukee for sunny Los Angeles.
4-DENVER (49-32)
The Nuggets play at Houston tomorrow. A meaningless game for the Rockets (having secured the No. 2 seed) but an important one for the Nuggets, who along with the LA Clippers (at Golden State tomorrow) are tied for the moment at 49-32). The Clippers hold the first tie-breaker advantage against the Nuggets, having beaten the latter, 2-1, in their season series. The Nuggets, though, own the tiebreaker vs. the Warriors, 3-0. If not for the abrupt firing of Nuggets head coach Michael Malone with three games left in the regulars, the top story in Mile High City would have been the historic performance of Nikola Jokic, the NBA MVP in three of the last four seasons who would have been an easy choice again this year if not for the exploits of Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Even if he does not play tomorrow (but I believe he will), the 6-11 Serbian is assured of becoming the third player in NBA history (after Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 and current Nuggets mate Russell Westbrook, who accomplished the feat on four occasions – thrice with the OKC Thunder, from 2017-19, and with Washington Wizards in 2021) after racking up 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists in 69 games this season. Five other Nuggets are in twin-figure scores – Jamal Murray (21.5 ppg), who has been plagued by injuries all season but could well be a factor deep into the playoffs; Michael Porter Jr. (18.1 ppg), young Christian Braun (15.5 ppg), whose growth allegedly was stunted because of Malone’s insistence of giving Westbrook more playing time that he deserved), Aaron Gordon (14.6 ppg) and Westbrook (13.2 ppg).
5-LA CLIPPERS (49-32)
Plays at Golden State in a game that has playoff-seeking implications for both sides. The Clippers are on a seven-game winning roll and have emerged victorious in nine of their last 10 assignments. The Clippers won in their previous three games with the Warriors but a loss tomorrow will complicate their ranking in the West playoffs. Hardened James Harden (22.6 ppg, 8.7 apg in 78 games), Norman Powell (21.9 ppg in 59 games) and two-time Finals MVP but oft-injured Kawhi Leonard (21.2 ppg in 36 games) have kept the Clippers together after a slow season start. But the improved play of 7-foot Croatian Ivica Zubac (16.7 ppg, 12.6 rpg), who even posted his first career triple-double against Houston last April 9. A win, coupled with a Denver loss, means the Clippers would be No. 4. A victory and a Denver win means the Clippers would face the Nuggets in the first round. A loss would likely push the Clippers into the play-in.
6-GOLDEN STATE (48-33)
Hosts the LA Clippers tomorrow in a game with playoff-seeding implications. The Warriors, 0-3 against the Clippers this season, need to win for a guaranteed top-six slot. A loss will have dire consequences. If Golden and Minnesota, which hosts league last-placer Utah tomorrow, the T-Wolves will finish at No. 5 and the Warriors at No. 6 and the Clippers at play-in No. 7. That’s the tiebreakers – or the head-to-head season series among the three teams. Minnesota is 3-0 vs. the Clippers and 3-1 vs. the Warriors. A loss by the Warriors and a win by Memphis, coupled with a win by Minnesota over Utah, will put the two teams at 48-34. But Golden State will rank higher (No. 7) because of its 3-1 win over the Grizzlies in their season series, and allow the Dubs to host the first play-in (No. 7 vs. No. 8) at the Chase Center. Again, the health of all-time three-point king Stephen Curry is of great concern. Curry (24.4 ppg, 6 apg) aggravated his right thumb injury two days ago. The rejuvenation of the Warriors came right after they acquired Jimmy Butler (17.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.8 apg in 29 games with the Warriors). Jonathan Kuminga (15.3 ppg in 47 games) has not adjusted well coming off a prolonged injury and the acquisition of Butler. Podziemski (11.6 ppg) has been a force offensively so is Buddy Hield (11.2 ppg) but the latter has to live to learn a trick or two from Warriors coach Steve Kerr on the art of passing when Curry is unguarded in the corners. A restricted free agent-to-be, Kuminga could still help under the guidance of veteran firecracker Draymond Green (8.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 5.7 apg).
7-MINNESOTA (48-33)
Hosts Utah tomorrow. A win assures the Timberwolves a top-6 playoff ticket. They could even jump to as high as No. 4 if Denver and the Clippers lose in their finales after their season-series success against Denver (4-0) and the Clippers (3-0). Where the Ant-Man goes so go the Wolves. Paris Olympian Anthony Edwards (27.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.5 apg) needs to control his temper to avoid getting the tough love from the whistle-tooters. His 18th technical foul was rescinded today to allow him to suit up tomorrow. Had it not be taken out, Edwards would have been suspended for tomorrow’s game (After 16 tees a player is meted a one-game suspension. Another two tees subsequently merit another one-game suspension. Edwards was already suspended once earlier. Frontliners Julius Randle (18.8 ppg, 7 rpg, 4.7 apg), reserve Nazr Reid (14.3 ppg), Jaden McDaniels (12.2 ppg) and French Rudy Gobert (11.9 ppg, 10.8 rpg for a double-double) have done well in the frontline and guards Donte DiVicenzo (11.6 ppg) and Nickey Alexander-Walker (9.4 ppg) have provided some spark off the bench and there’s first-stringer playmaker “Mr. Cool” Mike Conley Jr., who has never slapped a technical foul in his nearly 1,200 games during his 18-year NBA tenure.
8-MEMPHIS (47-34)
Hosts Dallas tomorrow. If the Grizzlies (a win) and Golden State (assuming a Warriors loss), end up in a deadlock, the Warriors will have the tiebreaker edge with their 3-1 win over the Grizzlies in their season series. A play-in at No. 7 is already a cinch even if Minnesota and Golden State lose. In that scenario, the Grizzlies will either travel to Golden State or host Minnesota, which will end up No. 8, in a potential three-way logjam. Cut it out, Ja Morant (23.2 games, 7.3 apg in 50 games. Your childish antics, ranging from imaginary gun taunts and phantom grenade-throwing following a successful basket, is hurting the team. Your maturity, which former head coach Taylor Jenkins tolerated to a fault and eventually cost him his job, will greatly determine the Grizzlies’ fortunes. Jaren Jackson Jr. (22.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Desmond Bane (19.2 ppg, 5.3 apg) would even become better players if Morant inspires leadership.
9-SACRAMENTO (39-42)
Plays host to Phoenix. A win by the Kings will put them at No. 9 and allow them to host the 9-19 play-in game. Wins by the Kings and Dallas (which travels to Memphis tomorrow) will put the two teams at 40-42. However, the Kings, by their 3-0 season-series triumph over Dallas will take No. 9 and host the 9-10 play-in game. The Kings are 4-6 in their last 10 games and the instant euphoria following the ascension of Doug Christie as head coach instead of the fired Mike Brown is gone. Zach LaVine 22.6 ppg in 31 Kings games), acquired from Chicago in a trade, and Demar DeRozan (22.4 ppg) have been reunited and Domantas Sabonis (19.1ppg, NBA-best 13.9 rpg, 6 apg) is having a decent season. The trade of De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio in February hurt and the absence of Malik Monk (167. 2 ppg, 5.6 apg) for the remainder of the season, including the play-in, due to a left calf strain he suffered a week ago, put the Kings out of meaningful playoff contention.
10-DALLAS (39-42)
The Mavericks play Memphis on the road. The only way that Dallas can move up to No. 9 is if it beats the Grizzlies and the Kings lose to the gone-fishing Phoenix Suns. Trading a general talent in Luke Doncic last February 2 triggered a lot of stunned faces and speculations, not only among the Mavs faithful but throughout the international basketball scene. Nothing more can be undone, of course, and as if that seismic decision to part ways with Doncic was not enough, All-Star guard Kyrie Irving (24.7 ppg in 50 games) went down with a season-ending ACL injury. Left to mind the store are center Daniel Gafford (12.2 ppg,), Naji Marshall (13.3 ppg), P.J. Washington (14.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and Klay Thompson (14 ppg), who has been left to wonder if he as a free agent last summer had only joined the Lakers instead on the advice of his dad Mychal Thompson, a former NBA champion at Tinseltown) and Max Christie (11.1 ppg in 31 games), who along with major piece Anthony Davis (20 ppg, 10.1 rpg in nine games) was shipped to Dallas for Doncic. If it’s any consolation, Davis, who missed a lot of games following his Dallas debut due to a left adductor strain, nearly registered a quadruple-double against Toronto – 23 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and seven blocks in a 124-102 home victory over the Raptors last April 12 to become only the third player in NBA history with 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, 10-plus assists and 7-plus shot blocks. Unfortunately, this early, the Mavs have already ruled out Davis’ presence in tomorrow’s road game against Memphis.
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