NBA Playoff Picture: A Breakdown of Everything to Play for on Last Day of Regular Season

Here’s what’s at stake during Sunday’s full 15-game slate to wrap up the regular season.

Tyrese Maxey and the 76ers have plenty to play for on Sunday. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The final day of the 2025-26 NBA regular season has arrived.

All 30 NBA teams will be in action Sunday in a full 15-game slate that begins with seven contests tipping off at 6 p.m. ET. While many teams already know their playoff fate—whether they are heading to the postseason or packing their bags for offseason vacations—10 teams still have yet to clinch their exact playoff or play-in tournament seed.

In the Western Conference, six seeds are known heading into Sunday and four spots—No. 3, No. 4, No. 8 and No. 9 seeds—are up for grabs. The Lakers and Nuggets will be aiming to claim the No. 3 seed, and the Clippers and Trail Blazers will be fighting for the No. 8 spot.

Over in the Eastern Conference, there is even more at stake. The Raptors, Magic and 76ers have the most to play for, as all three teams could still claim a top-six seed but also could fall into the play-in tournament depending on the results Sunday. The Hawks, Hornets and Heat will also learn what the beginning of their playoff or play-in tournament run will look like.

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Here’s a full breakdown of every seed and the scenarios needed for each team to claim it. Read on:

Western Conference

No. 1 seed: Oklahoma City Thunder (64–17)

Status: Clinched.

No. 2 seed: San Antonio Spurs (62–19)

Status: Clinched.

No. 3 seed: Denver Nuggets (53–28) OR Los Angeles Lakers (52–29)

Jokić and the Nuggets can claim the No. 3 seed in the West on Sunday. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Nuggets at Spurs, 8:30 p.m. ET; Lakers vs. Jazz; 8:30 p.m. ET

• Nuggets get No. 3 seed with: A win at Spurs OR a Lakers loss (vs. Jazz)
• Lakers get No. 3 seed with: A win vs. Jazz AND a Nuggets loss (at Spurs)

No. 4 seed: Denver Nuggets (53–28) OR Los Angeles Lakers (52–29)

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Nuggets at Spurs, 8:30 p.m. ET; Lakers vs. Jazz; 8:30 p.m. ET

• Nuggets get No. 4 seed with: A loss at Spurs AND a Lakers win (vs. Jazz)
• Lakers get No. 4 seed with: A loss vs. Jazz OR a Nuggets win (at Spurs)

No. 5 seed: Houston Rockets (51–30)

Status: Clinched.

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No. 6 seed: Minnesota Timberwolves (48–33)

Status: Clinched.

No. 7 seed: Phoenix Suns (44–37)

Status: Clinched.

No. 8 seed: Portland Trail Blazers (41–40) OR Los Angeles Clippers (41–40)

Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers will finish off their regular season with a matchup against the Warriors on Sunday night. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Trail Blazers vs. Kings, 8:30 p.m. ET; Clippers vs. Warriors; 8:30 p.m. ET

• Trail Blazers get No. 8 seed with: A win vs. Kings OR a Clippers loss (vs. Warriors)
• Clippers get No. 8 seed with: A win vs. Warriors AND a Trail Blazers loss (vs. Kings)

No. 9 seed: Portland Trail Blazers (41–40) OR Los Angeles Clippers (41–40)

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Trail Blazers vs. Kings, 8:30 p.m. ET; Clippers vs. Warriors; 8:30 p.m. ET

• Trail Blazers get No. 9 seed with: A loss vs. Kings AND a Clippers win (vs. Warriors)
• Clippers get No. 9 seed with: A loss vs. Warriors OR a Trail Blazers win (vs. Kings)

No. 10 seed: Golden State Warriors (37–44)

Status: Clinched.

Eastern Conference

No. 1 seed: Detroit Pistons (59–22)

Status: Clinched.

No. 2 seed: Boston Celtics (55–26)

Status: Clinched.

No. 3 seed: New York Knicks (53–28)

Status: Clinched.

No. 4 seed: Cleveland Cavaliers (51–30)

Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs secured the No. 4 seed in the East and will play either the Hawks or Raptors in the first round. | David Richard-Imagn Images

Status: Clinched.

No. 5 seed: Atlanta Hawks (46–35) OR Toronto Raptors (45–36)

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Hawks at Heat, 6 p.m. ET; Raptors vs. Nets, 6 p.m. ET; Magic at Celtics, 6 p.m. ET

• Hawks get No. 5 seed with: A win vs. Heat. With a loss to Miami, Atlanta can still claim the No. 5 seed with a Magic win (vs. Celtics) OR a Raptors loss (vs. Nets)
• Raptors get No. 5 seed with: A win vs. Nets AND a Hawks loss (vs. Heat) AND a Magic loss (vs. Celtics)

No. 6 seed: Atlanta Hawks (46–35), Toronto Raptors (45–36), Orlando Magic (45–36), Philadelphia 76ers (44–37)

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Hawks at Heat, 6 p.m. ET; Raptors vs. Nets, 6 p.m. ET; Magic at Celtics, 6 p.m. ET; 76ers vs. Bucks, 6 p.m. ET

• Hawks get No. 6 seed with: A loss vs. Heat AND a Magic loss (vs. Celtics) AND a Raptors win (vs. Nets)
• Raptors get No. 6 seed with: A win vs. Nets (which would keep No. 5 seed hopes alive as well, see above). If Toronto loses to Brooklyn, it can still claim the No. 6 seed with losses by the Magic (vs. Celtics) AND 76ers (vs. Bucks)
• Magic get No. 6 seed with: A win vs. Celtics AND a Raptors loss (vs. Nets)
• 76ers get No. 6 seed with: A win vs. Bucks AND a Raptors loss (vs. Nets) AND a Magic loss (vs. Celtics)

No. 7 seed: Toronto Raptors (45–36), Orlando Magic (45–36), Philadelphia 76ers (44–37)

Brandon Ingram and the Raptors could clinch a top-six seed and avoid the play-in tournament based on the results Sunday. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Raptors vs. Nets, 6 p.m. ET; Magic at Celtics, 6 p.m. ET; 76ers vs. Bucks, 6 p.m. ET

• Raptors get No. 7 seed with: A loss vs. Nets AND a Magic win (vs. Celtics) OR a 76ers win (vs. Bucks)
• Magic get No. 7 seed with: A win vs. Celtics AND a Raptors win (vs. Nets). With a loss to Boston, Orlando can still claim the the No. 7 seed with a 76ers loss (vs. Bucks)
• 76ers get No. 7 seed with: A win vs. Bucks AND a loss by either the Raptors (vs. Nets) OR the Magic (vs. Celtics), but not both.

No. 8 seed: Toronto Raptors (45–36), Orlando Magic (45–36), Philadelphia 76ers (44–37)

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Raptors vs. Nets, 6 p.m. ET; Magic at Celtics, 6 p.m. ET; 76ers vs. Bucks, 6 p.m. ET

• Raptors get No. 8 seed with: A loss vs. Nets AND wins by both the Magic (vs. Celtics) AND 76ers (vs. Bucks)
• Magic get No. 8 seed with: A loss vs. Celtics AND a 76ers win (vs. Bucks)
• 76ers get No. 8 seed with: A loss vs. Bucks OR wins by both the Raptors (vs. Nets) AND Magic (vs. Celtics)

No. 9 seed: Charlotte Hornets (43–38) OR Miami Heat (42–39)

The Hornets secured their second winning season in the last decade. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Hornets at Knicks, 6 p.m. ET; Heat vs. Hawks, 6 p.m. ET

• Hornets get No. 9 seed with: A win vs. Knicks OR a Heat loss vs. Hawks
• Heat get No. 9 seed with: A win vs. Hawks AND a Hornets loss vs. Knicks

No. 10 seed: Charlotte Hornets (43–38) OR Miami Heat (42–39)

Status: Up for grabs.
Games to watch: Hornets at Knicks, 6 p.m. ET; Heat vs. Hawks, 6 p.m. ET

• Hornets get No. 10 seed with: A loss vs. Knicks AND a Heat win vs. Hawks
• Heat get No. 10 seed with: A loss vs. Hawks OR a Hornets win vs. Knicks

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