NBA East playoff image: Celtics shut hole on No. 1 seed; Bulls climb into play-in; Nets bounce Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers received 64 mixed factors from Joel Embiid and James Harden in defeating the No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. The Sixers stay tied within the loss column with the No. 2 Celtics with 14 video games to play. 

If the playoffs have been to begin at the moment, the No. 5 Knicks would face the Cavs within the first spherical. 

Beneath is a complete snapshot of the place issues stand within the Jap Convention playoff and play-in races coming into play on Thursday. This submit will replace day by day all through the rest of the common season or till all seeds are clinched. 

Reminder on how the play-in match works: No. 7 performs No. 8 and No. 9 performs No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 sport will get the No. 7 seed, whereas the loser performs the winner of the 9-10 sport for the  No. 8 seed. 

READ: Western Conference playoff picture

NOTE: Our SportsLine mannequin, developed by predictive information engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the whole season 10,000 occasions to provide essentially the most unbiased and exact projections possible.

1. Milwaukee Bucks (50-19)

• Projected seed: 1
• Present 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

2. Boston Celtics (48-22)

• Projected seed: 2
• Present first-round matchup: Winner of Warmth/Hawks play-in
• Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Boston clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs clinched

3. Philadelphia 76ers (46-22)

• Projected seed: 3
• Present first-round matchup: vs. Brooklyn
• Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Boston clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs lead by way of convention win share

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (44-28)

• Projected seed: 4
• Present first-round matchup: vs. New York
• Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Cavs clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Cavs lead by way of convention win share
• 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 (41-30)

• Projected seed: 5
• Present first-round matchup: at Cleveland
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Knicks presently personal by way of division win share
• Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Knicks lead 2-0 with two to play

6. Brooklyn Nets (39-30)

• Projected seed: 6
• Present first-round matchup: at Philadelphia
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Nets lead 1-0 with two to play
• Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks presently personal by way of division win share
• 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 Warmth (38-33)

• Projected seed: 7
• Present 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: Miami clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Miami leads 2-1 with one to play

8. Atlanta Hawks (34-35)

• Projected seed: 8
• Present first-round matchup: at Miami (Play-in)
• Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Warmth clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Atlanta clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Atlanta leads 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play

9. Toronto Raptors (33-36)

• Projected seed: 9
• Present first-round matchup: vs. Wizards (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. Washington Wizards (32-37)

• Projected seed: 10
• Present first-round matchup: at Raptors (Play-in)
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers presently personal by way of convention win share
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls presently personal by way of convention win share

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

11. Chicago Bulls (31-37)

• Projected seed: Lottery
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Bulls presently personal by way of convention win share
• Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clinched

12. Indiana Pacers (31-38)

• Projected seed: Lottery
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Pacers clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Pacers presently personal by way of convention win share
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Pacers clinched