National Basketball Association

2025 NBA Playoff Picture, Bracket, Standings

Updated Mar. 28, 2025 9:16 a.m. ET

The 2025 NBA Playoffs are less than a month away, and the playoff picture is starting to become clearer.

Seeds 7-10 will compete in the NBA Play-in Tournament to advance to the first round of the NBA playoffs. Here's what the playoffs would look like if the season ended today:

Eastern Conference Seeding

Cleveland Cavaliers** (59-14)
Boston Celtics* (54-19) 5 GB
New York Knicks (45-27) 13.5 GB
Indiana Pacers (43-30) 16 GB
Detroit Pistons (41-32) 18 GB
Milwaukee Bucks (40-32) 18.5 GB
Atlanta Hawks (35-38) 24 GB
Orlando Magic (35-39) 24.5 GB
Chicago Bulls (33-40) 26 GB
Miami Heat (32-41) 27 GB

Eastern Conference Bracket

(1) Cavs vs. (8) Winner of play-in
(2) Celtics vs. (7) Winner of play-in
(3) Knicks vs. (6) Bucks
(4) Pacers vs. (5) Pistons

Celtics and Lakers take biggest slices of this week's NBA Title Pie | First Things First

Western Conference Seeding

Oklahoma City Thunder*** (61-12)
Houston Rockets (48-26) 13.5 GB
Denver Nuggets (46-28) 15.5 GB
Los Angeles Lakers (44-29) 17 GB
Memphis Grizzlies (44-29) 17 GB
LA Clippers (41-31) 19.5 GB
Golden State Warriors (41-31) 19.5 GB
Minnesota Timberwolves (41-32) 20 GB
Sacramento Kings (36-37) 25 GB
Dallas Mavericks (36-38) 25.5 GB

Western Conference Bracket

(1) Thunder vs. (8) Winner of play-in
(2) Rockets vs. (7) Winner of play-in
(3) Nuggets vs. (6) Clippers
(4) Lakers vs. (5) Grizzlies

NBA Play-In Tournament Bracket

Eastern Conference

(7) Atlanta Hawks vs. (8) Orlando Magic
(9) Chicago Bulls vs. (10) Miami Heat

Western Conference

(7) Golden State Warriors vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(9) Sacramento Kings vs. (10) Dallas Mavericks

* Clinched playoffs
** Clinched division
*** Clinched conference

How many teams make the NBA playoffs?

Sixteen teams in total make the NBA playoffs, eight teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference. The top six seeds in each conference advance based on the regular season record. The final two seeds in each conference are determined by the NBA Play-In Tournament.