Saturday’s Celtics at Hawks game will have major playoff seeding implications after a busy night in the NBA on Friday.
Here’s what happened in the Eastern Conference:
- The Pistons clinched their first playoff berth since 2009 with a win over the Wizards.
- The Wizards were eliminated from the playoff race with the loss.
- The Pacers failed to clinch the final playoff spot, and eliminate the Bulls, with a loss to the Raptors and dropped to eighth place.
- The Heat lost control of its seeding with a loss to the Magic.
- The Celtics defeated the Bucks to set up the huge game with the Hawks.
The idle Hawks remained third in the East. The Celtics have the same record but are fourth because the Hawks currently hold the tiebreaker with a 2-1 edge head-to-head. If the Celtics win tonight, that would even the series and push the tiebreaker to conference winning percentage for a two-team, non-division opponent deadlock. The Celtics would clinch that scenario over the Hawks with a win should the teams remain tied at the end of the regular season. The Hawks final home game of the regular-season has become very important.
The Heat and Hornets, who defeated the Nets, remain a game back in the fifth and sixth spots. The Hawks own the tie breaker over the Hornets but not the Heat.
Here’s a look at the current playoff picture in the East:
c - Clinched Central Division
a - Clinched Atlantic Division
x - Clinched playoff berth
Eliminated from playoffs: Washington, Orlando, Milwaukee, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia
Remaining games
Cavaliers: at Bulls, vs. Hawks, vs. Pistons
Raptors: at Knicks, vs. 76ers, at Nets
Hawks: vs. Celtics, at Cavaliers, at Wizards
Celtics: at Hawks, vs. Hornets, vs. Heat
Heat: vs. Magic, at Pistons, at Celtics
Hornets: at Wizards, at Celitcs, vs. Magic
Pacers: vs. Nets, vs. Knicks, at Bucks
Pistons: vs. Heat, at Cavaliers
Bulls: vs. Cavaliers, at Pelicans, vs. 76ers
