NBA Playoff Picture and magic numbers for Saturday, April 21st
Each morning we'll update you on the playoff race in both conferences. Not just who is how many games out of what seed, but what the seedings and matchups mean for each team based on what we've seen. For our complete playoff standings, click here. For yesterday's primer, click here.
Current matchups:
Chicago (1) vs. Philadelphia (8)
Miami (2) vs. New York (7)
Indiana (3) vs. Orlando (6)
Boston (4) vs. Atlanta (5)
San Antonio (1) vs. Phoenix (8)
Oklahoma City (2) vs. Denver (7)
Los Angeles Lakers (3) vs. Dallas (6)
Los Angeles Clippers (4) vs. Memphis (5)
East No.1 and No. 2 seed: So much for the Bulls taking care of business. Essentially, the top seed in the East comes down to this:
The Heat are a game and a half behind Chicago. With Miami evening up the season series, the Heat need Chicago to lose specifically to Indiana on Wednesday. If the Bulls finish 2-1 with a loss to Indiana, they close out the year with a 49-17 overall and a 37-11 record against the Eastern Conference. Should the Heat win out, they would capture the Eastern title by virtue of a better conference record.
So yeah, that Wednesday night Pacers-Bulls game is kind of a big deal.
East No.3 seed: The Hawks kept pace with a win over Boston, so the Pacers' magic number sticks at one. A win over Philadelphia Saturday does the trick.
East No.4 and No.5 seed: Boston had already locked the 4 seed with a division win over the Sixers this week. But sitting the Big 3 and Rondo vs. Atlanta kept Atlanta in the race for the third seed, and dropped their magic number for taking homecourt from Boston to two. The weekend could bring the No.3, No.4, and No.5 seeds, as well as homecourt advantage into their full, upright, and locked positions.
East No.6 seed: New York's loss to Cleveland means the Magic's magic number is down to one. So they almost definitely will be getting swept by Indiana instead of Miami. So they've got that going for them.
East No.7 seed: New York could have worked its way into the sixth seed pretty easily and faced the Pacers who would struggle against their star power and elite defense. Instead, New York decided to blow it against the Cavaliers and as a result will instead face the Death Star Miami Heat.
The Knicks: always there to confound your best and worst assumptions.
East No.8 seed: The Sixers have the Pacers who are looking to clinch their third seed while the Bucks have the Nets. If the pattern holds, both teams will lose and will go nowhere. But there's still a pretty good chance that Milwaukee could drag itself back into the race, landing two games behind Philly with a win and a Sixers loss.
A Sixers win and a Bucks collapse against New Jersey clinches the playoff spot for Philadelpia. And if that happens, Philly has to start pulling for the Bulls because they'd rather play a banged-up and fading Bulls team than Miami.
West No.1 and No.2 seed: Both OKC and the Spurs won Friday night, so no change there. Half-game advantage for San Antonio, magic number is at four with four games remaining, but San Antonio holds the tiebreaker, so you can consider it three.
The hard part of the Spurs' schedule is over. San Antonio is very much the favorite to win the West from here on out. So Pop will probably do something funky.
West No.3 and No.4 seed: The Clippers have to be absolutely kicking themselves for losing that Suns game. The pounding San Antonio gave the Lakers would have given the Clippers the lead for the third seed. But no. As it stands, the Clippers remain a half-game back and don't have the tiebreaker and Memphis won again. The Lakers magic number is two to take out the Clippers, just one to ensure they can't finish below Memphis.
West No.5 seed: Speaking of Memphis, another gutsy win, this time over the ... er... Bobcats, and the Grizzlies are just a game behind the Clippers with three games remaining. The Clippers have no room for error, whatsoever. Memphis has clinched no worse than the fifth seed.
West No. 6 seed: Dallas opens up a full game lead over Denver for the six, and have the tiebreaker. Mavs have to lose at least one of their final two and Denver must go 4-0 to finish to climb up out of facing San Antonio or OKC.
West No.7 seed: Denver has a magic number of 2 for avoiding the top team in the West, whoever that winds up being. I'm sure they're very comforted.
West No.8 seed: No changes off Friday's games for the race for the 8th spot. Phoenix remains in place, with Utah the next most likely and then Houston starting to dip below the water line.
Current matchups:
Chicago (1) vs. Philadelphia (8)
Miami (2) vs. New York (7)
Indiana (3) vs. Orlando (6)
Boston (4) vs. Atlanta (5)
San Antonio (1) vs. Phoenix (8)
Oklahoma City (2) vs. Denver (7)
Los Angeles Lakers (3) vs. Dallas (6)
Los Angeles Clippers (4) vs. Memphis (5)
Eastern Conference
East No.1 and No. 2 seed: So much for the Bulls taking care of business. Essentially, the top seed in the East comes down to this:
The Heat are a game and a half behind Chicago. With Miami evening up the season series, the Heat need Chicago to lose specifically to Indiana on Wednesday. If the Bulls finish 2-1 with a loss to Indiana, they close out the year with a 49-17 overall and a 37-11 record against the Eastern Conference. Should the Heat win out, they would capture the Eastern title by virtue of a better conference record.
So yeah, that Wednesday night Pacers-Bulls game is kind of a big deal.
East No.3 seed: The Hawks kept pace with a win over Boston, so the Pacers' magic number sticks at one. A win over Philadelphia Saturday does the trick.
East No.4 and No.5 seed: Boston had already locked the 4 seed with a division win over the Sixers this week. But sitting the Big 3 and Rondo vs. Atlanta kept Atlanta in the race for the third seed, and dropped their magic number for taking homecourt from Boston to two. The weekend could bring the No.3, No.4, and No.5 seeds, as well as homecourt advantage into their full, upright, and locked positions.
East No.6 seed: New York's loss to Cleveland means the Magic's magic number is down to one. So they almost definitely will be getting swept by Indiana instead of Miami. So they've got that going for them.
East No.7 seed: New York could have worked its way into the sixth seed pretty easily and faced the Pacers who would struggle against their star power and elite defense. Instead, New York decided to blow it against the Cavaliers and as a result will instead face the Death Star Miami Heat.
The Knicks: always there to confound your best and worst assumptions.
East No.8 seed: The Sixers have the Pacers who are looking to clinch their third seed while the Bucks have the Nets. If the pattern holds, both teams will lose and will go nowhere. But there's still a pretty good chance that Milwaukee could drag itself back into the race, landing two games behind Philly with a win and a Sixers loss.
A Sixers win and a Bucks collapse against New Jersey clinches the playoff spot for Philadelpia. And if that happens, Philly has to start pulling for the Bulls because they'd rather play a banged-up and fading Bulls team than Miami.
Western Conference
West No.1 and No.2 seed: Both OKC and the Spurs won Friday night, so no change there. Half-game advantage for San Antonio, magic number is at four with four games remaining, but San Antonio holds the tiebreaker, so you can consider it three.
The hard part of the Spurs' schedule is over. San Antonio is very much the favorite to win the West from here on out. So Pop will probably do something funky.
West No.3 and No.4 seed: The Clippers have to be absolutely kicking themselves for losing that Suns game. The pounding San Antonio gave the Lakers would have given the Clippers the lead for the third seed. But no. As it stands, the Clippers remain a half-game back and don't have the tiebreaker and Memphis won again. The Lakers magic number is two to take out the Clippers, just one to ensure they can't finish below Memphis.
West No.5 seed: Speaking of Memphis, another gutsy win, this time over the ... er... Bobcats, and the Grizzlies are just a game behind the Clippers with three games remaining. The Clippers have no room for error, whatsoever. Memphis has clinched no worse than the fifth seed.
West No. 6 seed: Dallas opens up a full game lead over Denver for the six, and have the tiebreaker. Mavs have to lose at least one of their final two and Denver must go 4-0 to finish to climb up out of facing San Antonio or OKC.
West No.7 seed: Denver has a magic number of 2 for avoiding the top team in the West, whoever that winds up being. I'm sure they're very comforted.
West No.8 seed: No changes off Friday's games for the race for the 8th spot. Phoenix remains in place, with Utah the next most likely and then Houston starting to dip below the water line.
