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

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

• Projected seed: Lottery
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers currently own via conference win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls currently own via conference win percentage