NBA standings: Who's in, out of NBA playoffs if season ended today?

It’s wild that we are about three-quarters of the way through the 2025-26 NBA regular season. Pretty soon, we’ll be seeing the best of the best go toe-to-toe night in, night out in an effort to claim the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Are the Thunder fated to repeat as champions? Will the Eastern Conference produce another unexpected representative? Are the Spurs and Nuggets legitimate title contenders?

These are all questions that NBA fans have been dying to know for months now, but there is still more than a month to go before the postseason begins on April 14.

There’s still time for your favorite teams to make a push for the play-in, and possibly shock the world. However, it’s still nice to look ahead at what could happen, or what would happen if the playoffs were to begin today.

Here’s what the postseason would look like if the season were to end today:

NBA playoff standings

Eastern Conference

1. Detroit Pistons (45-16)

2. Boston Celtics (41-21)

3. New York Knicks (40-23)

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (39-24)

5. Toronto Raptors (35-27)

6. Philadelphia 76ers (34-28)

Western Conference

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (49-15)

2. San Antonio Spurs (45-17)

3. Minnesota Timberwolves (40-23)

4. Houston Rockets (38-23)

5. Denver Nuggets (39-24)

6. Los Angeles Lakers (37-25)

NBA play-in teams

Eastern Conference

7. Orlando Magic (33-28)

8. Miami Heat (34-29)

9. Charlotte Hornets (32-31)

10. Atlanta Hawks (32-31)

Western Conference

7. Phoenix Suns (35-27)

8. Golden State Warriors (32-30)

9. Los Angeles Clippers (30-31)

10. Portland Trail Blazers (30-33)

When does the NBA postseason begin?

The play-in tournament will begin on April 14, running through April 17. The traditional NBA postseason begins a day later, on April 18, running through the rest of April, all of May and well into June. The NBA Finals are scheduled to start on June 3, with Game 7 happening as late as June 19 if necessary.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA standings, updated playoff picture if season ended today

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