NBA Playoffs: New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks have been selected as playoff teams

The New York Knicks have qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 2012/13 season. The Atlanta Hawks are also there, the Boston Celtics, however, have to go to the play-in tournament. SPOX has an overview of the race for the playoff places.

A total of ten teams have secured the playoff participation since Thursday night after the Atlanta Hawks made a comeback against the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics failed at the Cleveland Cavaliers. “Cross it off the list. We’re not even close to done”, stressed Julius Randle on Twitterwhose curtsey has been confirmed as a playoff participant thanks to the defeat of the Celtics.

Miami, Atlanta and New York all have 31 defeats, while Atlanta presented its 39th victory on Thursday night. The trio is expected to fight for places four, five and six until the end of the season.

Eastern Conference: These playoff teams have been determined

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
1	Philadelphia 76ers	47	22
2	Brooklyn Nets	46	24
3	Milwaukee Bucks	44	25
4	Atlanta Hawks	39	31
5	Miami Heat	38	31
6	New York Knicks	38	31

Play-in tournament: Boston missed direct playoff spots

Behind the top 6, it remains exciting. With the eighth defeat in the last eleven games, the Celtics are now established as a play-in team, they could even fall to eighth or ninth place.

The Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers are already sure to participate, now it’s only for the Washington Wizards to defend a place against the Chicago Bulls. Another Wizards win would be enough, but Washington narrowly failed against the Hawks. The Bulls can no longer afford to lose.

Eastern Conference: The race for the play-in tournament

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
7	Boston Celtics	35	35
8	Charlotte Hornets	33	36
9	Indiana Pacers	33	36
10	Washington Wizards	32	38
11	Chicago Bulls	29	40

bold = play-in participation is guaranteed

As a reminder: this is how the play-in tournament works!

Play-in in the east according to today’s status:

Game 1: (7) Boston vs. (8) Charlotte – the winner goes into the playoffs as a 7-seed
Game 2: (9) Indiana vs. (10) Washington – the winner remains in the play-in tournament, the loser is eliminated
Game 3: Loser from Boston / Charlotte vs. winner from Indiana / Washington – the winner goes into the playoffs as an 8-seed

Das Playoff-Picture in der Western Conference

In the west, the Lakers stay right behind the Trail Blazers (5) and the Mavericks (6), who also have the tiebreaker against Los Angeles and were both successful on Thursday night by beating the Houston Rockets. The Lakers are therefore still on shooting aid, even if LeBron James has announced that he will play against the Indiana Pacers again on Saturday.

The Nuggets, on the other hand, secured their home advantage at least in round one with their victory on Wednesday night and are still behind the Clippers for third place.

Western Conference: These playoff teams have been determined

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
1	Utah Jazz	50	20
2	Phoenix Suns	48	21
3	L.A. Clippers	46	23
4	Denver Nuggets	45	24

bold = playoff participation safe

Play-in tournament: The Pelicans drop out

Over the past few days, the Golden State Warriors (currently 8th place) have turned out to be the favorite scare after victories over the Jazz and Suns. “We were the hunted for years. Now we’re hunting again,” said Draymond Green, satisfied afterwards. And now the question arises as to which of them is hunted and how. The lead over the ninth-placed Grizzlies is only half a game, nothing is possible upwards.

But they are unlikely to fall any lower than in ninth place. The Kings still have outside chances thanks to the Spurs defeat, the Pelicans were eliminated by the Mavericks. Spicy: Memphis and Golden State have to face each other again on the last day of the game, there they could still swap places.

Western Conference: The race for the play-in tournament

Rang	Team	Siege	Defeats
5	Portland Trail Blazers	41	29
6	Dallas Mavericks	41	29
7	Los angeles lakers	40	30
8	Golden State Warriors	37	33
9	Memphis Grizzlies	36	33
10	San antonio spurs	33	36
11	Sacramento Kings	31	38