Atlanta Hawks

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture: Bulls continue fall

By Chris Vivlamore
March 25, 2016

The Bulls free fall continues out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. They suffered their second defeat to the Knicks in as many days and are now 1-1/2 games behind the Pistons for the eighth and final spot.

The Hawks magic number to clinch a playoff spot stands at six, although they own the tie-breaker over the Bulls having won all three games, with one remaining, played this season.

The Hawks host the Bucks tonight, a team they’ve lost to twice in overtime. The remain third in the conference but just a half-game ahead of the Hornets in sixth. Seven of the Hawks’ remaining 10 games are against teams with a record of .500 or better.

In other key matchups in the conference playoff race on Friday, the Wizards host the Timberwolves, the Pistons host the Hornets, the Heat host the Magic and the Rockets host the Raptors.

Here’s a look at the playoff picture in the East:

Rank
Team
W-L
Pct.
Div.
Conf.
Home
Away
GB
>=.500 (H/A)
<=.500 (H/A)
1
Cleveland*
51-21
.708
7-5
29-14
30-6
21-15
-
6 (3/3)
4 (2/2)
2
Toronto*
48-22
.686
11-2
33-12
28-8
20-14
2
7 (4/3)
5 (1/4)
3
Atlanta
42-30
.583
8-7
24-19
23-13
19-17
9
7 (3/4)
3 (2/1)
4
Boston
42-30
.583
10-6
29-19
25-12
17-18
9
6 (2/4)
4 (2/2)
5
Miami
41-30
.577
8-5
25-19
23-13
18-17
9.5
5 (2/3)
6 (3/3)
6
Charlotte
41-30
.577
7-7
26-15
27-11
14-19
9.5
4 (0/4)
7 (3/4)
7
Indiana
38-33
.535
6-7
24-18
22-13
16-20
12.5
3 (2/1)
8 (4/4)
8
Detroit
38-34
.528
8-6
24-20
23-12
15-22
13
7 (4/3)
3 (2/1)
9
Chicago
36-35
.507
7-5
21-23
24-13
12-22
14.5
6 (3/3)
5 (1/4)
10
Washington
35-36
.493
8-6
26-21
19-18
16-18
15.5
5 (2/3)
6 (2/4)
11
Milwaukee
30-42
.417
4-9
19-24
21-14
9-28
21
6 (4/2)
4 (2/2)
12
New York
30-43
.411
6-7
19-26
17-19
13-24
21.5
5 (4/1)
4 (1/3)
13
Orlando
29-42
.408
3-9
16-26
18-17
11-25
21.5
8 (4/4)
3 (2/1)
14
Brooklyn**
20-51
.282
6-8
11-31
13-24
7-27
30.5
6 (2/4)
5 (2/3)
15
Philadelphia**
9-63
.125
2-12
3-42
6-30
3-33
42
7 (2/5)
3 (3/0)

* - Clinched playoff berth

**_ Eliminated from playoffs

About the Author

Chris Vivlamore is the sports editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has served as reporter and editor at the AJC since 2003.

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