We break down the standings and tiebreaker situation as the regular season winds down.
Only two seeds in the 2015 NBA Eastern Conference playoff picture are locked in. This post has a breakdown of the teams' records and all the relevant tiebreakers. We'll update it every morning for the remainder of the regular season to reflect the current situation. Scroll down for tiebreaker information.
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Last updated: Includes results from games played on 4/8/15. The Raptors won and Bulls lost, sending Toronto back into the No. 3 seed. A Celtics win and Nets loss moved Boston into No. 7 due to tiebreakers; Brooklyn remains one game up on Indiana and Miami for No. 8.
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Current playoff picture
This is the Too Long; Didn't Read version. If the season ended today, here are your first-round matchups. The seeds that are locked in are in ALL CAPS.
HAWKS (1) vs. Nets (8)
Bulls (4) vs. Wizards (5)
CAVALIERS (2) vs. Celtics (7)
Raptors (3) vs. Bucks (6)
Standings
Obviously, tiebreakers only matter if the teams are tied. There is one oddity here: division winners cannot be seeded below No. 4. But division winners don't get home-court advantage against teams higher than them in the standings anyway.
Here's the jumble for the Nos. 3-5 spots.
3. Raptors 46-32 --
4. Bulls 46-32 --
5. Wizards 45-33 1
And here's the race for the last three spots.
6. Bucks 38-40 --
7. Celtics 36-42 2
8. Nets 36-42 2
9. Pacers 35-43 3
10. Heat 35-43 3
11. Hornets 32-45 5
Tiebreaker Situations
If teams finish the season tied in the standings, these tiebreakers will decide berths and seeds.
TORONTO over Chicago and/or Washington (division winner)
WASHINGTON over Chicago: Teams split season series and are tied in conference standings. All remaining games for both teams are against East teams. Therefore, if the Wizards tie the Bulls in the standings, they will by default have a better East record and the tiebreaker.
MILWAUKEE over Boston (H2H), Miami (H2H) and Brooklyn (conference record)
BOSTON over Brooklyn and Indiana (H2H)
BROOKLYN over Indiana and Charlotte (H2H)
INDIANA over Miami and Charlotte (H2H)
MIAMI over Boston and Brooklyn (H2H)
CHARLOTTE over Miami (division record)
CHARLOTTE over Boston: If the Hornets tie the Celtics in the standings, they will have finished with a better record against the East.
Unsettled Tiebreakers
Milwaukee-Indiana: If the Pacers beat the Pistons (4/9), they will guarantee a better division record. If not, the Bucks can clinch the tiebreaker (and certainly a better place in the standings) with two wins.
Head-to-Head Data
This is the head-to-head data used in the above tiebreaker breakdown.
The following table shows each playoff contender's record against other playoff contenders. BOLD indicates one of the teams has clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker for the season. ITALICS indicates a season series tie. An asterisk indicates the teams will play only three times this season. Otherwise, the teams play each other four times.
X | ATL | CLE | TOR | CHI | WAS | MIL | IND | CHA | MIA | BOS | BKN |
ATL | -- | ATL 3-1 | TOR 3-1 | ATL 2-0* | ATL 3-0 | ATL 3-1 | ATL 3-0* | CHA 2-1 | ATL 4-0 | ATL 2-1* | ATL 4-0 |
CLE | ATL 3-1 | -- | CLE 3-1 | CLE 3-1 | CLE 2-1 | CLE 3-1 | 2-2 | CLE 3-0* | 2-2 | CLE 2-0 | CLE 3-1 |
TOR | TOR 3-1 | CLE 3-1 | -- | CHI 4-0 | TOR 3-0* | TOR 2-1* | TOR 3-0* | CHA 2-1 | 1-1* | TOR 2-1 | 2-2 |
CHI | ATL 2-0* | CLE 3-1 | CHI 4-0 | -- | 2-2 | CHI 4-0 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 1-1* | CHI 3-1 | CHI 2-1 |
WAS | ATL 3-0 | CLE 2-1 | TOR 3-0* | 2-2 | -- | WAS 2-1* | WAS 2-1 | 2-2 | WAS 3-1 | WAS 2-1* | WAS 2-1 |
MIL | ATL 3-1 | CLE 3-1 | TOR 2-1* | CHI 4-0 | WAS 2-1* | -- | 2-2 | CHA 2-1* | MIL 4-0 | MIL 2-0* | MIL 2-1 |
IND | ATL 3-0* | 2-2 | TOR 3-0* | 2-2 | WAS 2-1 | 2-2 | -- | IND 3-1 | IND 3-1 | BOS 3-1 | BKN 2-1* |
CHA | CHA 2-1 | CLE 3-0* | CHA 2-1 | 2-2 | 2-2 | CHA 2-1* | IND 3-1 | -- | 2-2 | 2-2 | BKN 2-1* |
MIA | ATL 4-0 | 2-2 | 1-1* | 1-1* | WAS 3-1 | MIL 4-0 | IND 3-1 | 2-2 | -- | MIA 3-1 | MIA 4-0 |
BOS | ATL 2-1* | CLE 2-0 | TOR 2-1 | CHI 3-1 | WAS 2-1* | MIL 2-0* | BOS 3-1 | 2-2 | MIA 3-1 | -- | BOS 3-1 |
BKN | ATL 4-0 | CLE 3-1 | 2-2 | CHI 2-1 | WAS 2-1 | MIL 2-1 | BKN 2-1* | BKN2-1* | MIA 4-0 | BOS 3-1 | -- |
Be sure to also see our Guide to the West Tiebreakers.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1CgE0VY
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