NBA playoff and play-in tournament race

With the NBA playoffs almost underway and the playoff race being tighter than ever, there is a lot to discuss.

Starting with the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics have locked up their spot as the number one seed in the East but the rest of the conference is bound to get a bit messy.

Teams from second through seventh place are separated by just three games with the seventh seed being the scorching-hot Philadelphia 76ers, led by the returning Joel Embiid.

The Milwaukee Bucks currently sit as the second seed but with the New York Knicks one game behind, that second seed could be in the air if the Knicks can defeat the Celtics on Thursday night.

Orlando, Cleveland and Indiana take up spots four through six with 46 wins each but with Philadelphia one game behind, you might see one of these teams fall to the Play-In Tournament.

In the East play-in tournament, the only thing guaranteed is that the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks will face off as the nine and ten seeds but for the other two teams in the tournament, that just might come down to the very last game of the season.

The Orlando Magic are looking at a very tough three-game stretch to end the season against the 76ers and the Bucks twice so Orlando just might be headed towards a spot in the play-in tournament where they would potentially see the Miami Heat.

In the Western Conference, believe it or not, the playoff race is even tighter.

The Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves sit atop of the west with 55 wins each but these two will clash on April 10 for the rights to the number one seed in the west.

Right behind them is the electric Oklahoma City Thunder with 54 wins and if they can win a few of their last games, they might be able to move up the standings.

The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers are two teams you absolutely do not want to play against in the playoffs but lucky for the rest of the West, they sit at the fourth and fifth seed after both clinching the playoffs so as of now they would be set to face off in round one of the postseason.

Now, here’s where it gets really tricky.

The sixth through seventh seeds are three games apart with not much time left to play.

The New Orleans Pelicans lead the bunch with 47 wins as the Phoenix Suns sit at the seventh seed with 46 wins and the Sacramento Kings as well as the Los Angeles Lakers are tied with 45 wins.

The Houston Rockets were on an eleven-game win streak led by Jalen Green’s incredible recent performances and they were closing in on the Warriors' record as it looked like they could steal their spot in the play-in.

Unfortunately for Houston as soon as they caught up, they followed that up with a five-game losing streak that ultimately got them eliminated from the Playoff race.

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors will likely compete in the play-in but for the other four teams it’s a tight race and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see which teams punch their ticket to the playoffs.

The Pelicans close out the season by playing against the Kings, Warriors and Lakers which means the sixth seed is going to come down to how well the Pelicans can finish off the regular season.

The teams that we might end up seeing in the play-in tournament should absolutely be taken seriously and the 2024 playoffs are shaping up to be a great one.

With just a few games to go, let’s see which teams can finish off the regular season strong.

Jacob Zacharia is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jjz5612@psu.edu.