Current National Basketball Association season standings and predictions
Western and Eastern Conference teams are beginning to secure their positions as the playoffs loom.
On April 19 the National Basketball Association’s 2025 playoffs will begin, featuring the top six teams from both the Western and Eastern Conferences. In contrast, the teams between the seventh and tenth standings from each conference will participate in the SoFi Play-In Tournament to battle for the seventh and eighth playoff seeds days before. The team in seventh place will host the eighth-place team to decide the seventh seed, and the losing team will move on to play the winner from a game between the teams in the ninth and tenth standings.
The only Eastern Conference teams to have secured playoff spots are the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Last season, the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Finals, giving them a record-setting 18 championship wins. The Celtics and the Cavaliers will compete for the conference’s lead standing; given the five-game difference between the teams, the Celtics are likely to take the second seed this season.
On March 23, the Boston Celtics defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 129-116. However the win did nothing to compensate for the five-game difference separating the teams but gave the Celtics a fifth-consecutive win. Jayson Tatum scored 30 points for the team altogether; his early four-point play during the third quarter gave the Celtics a 75-57 lead before the Trail Blazers could rally, leaving Portland to finish the game seven points short of Boston.
Other Eastern Conference teams that the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network expects to secure “at least a play-in” spot are the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons.
The Western Conference’s Oklahoma City Thunder has secured the top playoff seed for the second consecutive season. The Thunder played against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 23, defeating them 103-101 and extending their 13-game lead over the Houston Rockets. This win also extended the Thunder’s winning streak to six consecutive games. The team managed to emerge victorious even without its second and third-leading scorers, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, present.
Unlike the Celtics in the east, a top contender for the second standing has yet to emerge in this conference. Four closely-ranked teams in standing order, the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies, each have a chance at making the second standing, according to the NBA. As of press time, the Nuggets are 45-27, the Rockets are 46-26, the Lakers are 43-27 and the Grizzlies are 43-28.
In a “massive victory” on March 23, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Houston Rockets 116-111, making them only one victory apart. The Nuggets also gained an additional game advantage over the Los Angeles Lakers. Denver scored 46.6 percent on their three-pointers during that game and 50.6 percent on attempted field goals.
The Los Angeles Lakers faced a crushing defeat on March 22, losing to the Chicago Bulls in a 146-115 game. Neither LeBron James nor Luka Doncic could compensate for their defense’s performance; this game marked James’ return from a two-week injury-induced absence. This loss was the Laker’s second in a row, their previous game ultimately ending with the Milwaukee Bucks securing a 118-89 win on March 20.
On March 14, the Houston Rockets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 113-96. The Rockets’ forward, Tari Eason, scored a career-high 30 points during the game, and the team’s offensive overall is expected to improve with point guard Fred VanVleet’s return. Before their aforementioned loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Rockets had a nine-game winning streak.
The Western Conference’s projected participants in the SoFi Play-In Tournament are the Minnesota Timberwolves in seventh standing against the Los Angeles Clippers in eighth. In the ninth and tenth standings are the Sacramento Kings and the Phoenix Suns. Eliminated Western Conference teams are the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans. Eastern Conference teams that may appear in the Play-In Tournament are the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic in the seventh and eighth standings and the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat in the ninth and tenth.
As the regular season climaxes, upcoming games occur daily, and the NBA updates team standings and statistics according to their outcomes.
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