NBA East playoff picture: Heat control destiny for top-six seed; Sixers-Celtics battle remains tight

Getty Images

With Brooklyn’s loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, the No. 7 Heat are now within one loss of the No. 6 seed Nets with two head-to-head matchups remaining between the teams.

Outside of that, the tightest race continues to be Boston and Philadelphia battling for the No. 2 seed. They are tied in the loss column with Boston having sealed the tiebreaker.

Below is a comprehensive snapshot of where things stand in the Eastern Conference playoff and play-in races entering play on Wednesday. This post will update daily throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are clinched.

Reminder on how the play-in tournament works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed.

READ: Western Conference playoff picture

NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and precise projections imaginable.

Projected seed: 1
Current first-round matchup: TBD
Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Tied 1-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Sixers lead 2-1 with one to play

Projected seed: 2
Current first-round matchup: vs. winner of Heat/Hawks play-in
Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Celtics clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs clinched

Projected seed: 3
Current first-round matchup: Nets
Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Celtics clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Sixers clinched

Projected seed: 4
Current first-round matchup: vs. Knicks
Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Cavs clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Sixers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play

5. New York Knicks (42-31)

Projected seed: 5
Current first-round matchup: at Cavs
Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Knicks currently own via division win percentage
Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play

6. Brooklyn Nets (39-33)

Projected seed: 6
Current first-round matchup: at Sixers
Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks currently own via division win percentage
Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Nets lead 2-0 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play

PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

7. Miami Heat (39-34)

Projected seed: 7
Current first-round matchup: vs. Hawks (play-in)
Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play
Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-0 with two to play
Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Heat clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Heat leads 2-1 with one to play

8. Atlanta Hawks (36-36)

Projected seed: 8
Current first-round matchup: at Heat (play-in)
Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Hawks clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Hawks leads 2-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play

9. Toronto Raptors (35-37)

Projected seed: 9
Current first-round matchup: vs. Bulls (play-in)
Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Hawks clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Tied 1-1 with one to play
Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Raptors clinched

10. Chicago Bulls (34-37)

Projected seed: 10
Current first-round matchup: at Raptors (play-in)
Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Bulls currently own via conference win percentage
Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clinched

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

11. Indiana Pacers (32-40)

Projected seed: Lottery
Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Pacers clinched
Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Pacers currently own via conference win percentage
Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Pacers clinched