NBA East playoff picture: Nets jump Heat, take tiebreaker; Cavs can clinch top-six seed with win vs. Rockets

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Miami Heat on Saturday to jump back into the No. 6 seed and clinch the season tiebreaker over No. 7 Miami. 

The Bucks, Celtics and 76ers have all clinched a playoff spot in the East. The Cleveland Cavaliers can clinch their playoff spot with a win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday. 

Milwaukee and Boston have actually clinched a top-four seed. 

Below is a comprehensive snapshot of where things stand in the Eastern Conference playoff and play-in races entering play on Sunday. This post will update daily throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are clinched. 

Reminder on how the play-in tournament works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the  No. 8 seed. 

READ: Western Conference playoff picture

NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and precise projections imaginable.

• Clinched top-four seed
• Projected seed: 1
• Current first-round matchup: TBD
• Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Sixers lead 2-1 with one to play

• Clinched top-four seed
• Projected seed: 2
• Current first-round matchup: vs. Heat-Hawks play-in winner
• Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Celtics clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Cavs clinched

• Clinched playoff spot
• Projected seed: 3
• Current first-round matchup: vs. Nets
• Tiebreaker vs. Milwaukee: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Celtics clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Sixers clinched

• Projected seed: 4
• Current first-round matchup: vs. Knicks
• Tiebreaker vs. Boston: Cavs clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Philadelphia: Sixers clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Tied 1-1 with one to play

5. New York Knicks (42-33)

• Projected seed: 5
• Current first-round matchup: at Cavs
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Knicks currently own via division win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play

6. Brooklyn Nets (40-34)

• Projected seed: 6
• Current first-round matchup: at 76ers
• Tiebreaker vs. Cleveland: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks currently own via division win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Nets clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play

PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT

7. Miami Heat (40-35)

• Projected seed: 7
• Current first-round matchup: vs. Hawks (play-in)
• Tiebreaker vs. New York: Knicks lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Heat clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Heat leads 2-1 with one to play

8. Atlanta Hawks (37-37)

• Projected seed: 8
• Current first-round matchup: at Heat (play-in)
• Tiebreaker vs. Brooklyn: Nets lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Heat clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Hawks clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Hawks leads 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls lead 2-1 with one to play

9. Toronto Raptors (36-38)

• Projected seed: 9
• Current first-round matchup: vs. Bulls (play-in)
• Tiebreaker vs. Miami: Raptors lead 2-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Atlanta: Hawks clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Raptors clinched

10. Chicago Bulls (35-38)

• Projected seed: 10
• Current first-round matchup: at Raptors (play-in)
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Raptors clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Bulls currently own via conference win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers clinched

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

• Projected seed: Lottery
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Tied 1-1 with one to play
• Tiebreaker vs. Indiana: Pacers currently own via conference win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Bulls currently own via conference win percentage

12. Indiana Pacers (33-42)

• Projected seed: Lottery
• Tiebreaker vs. Toronto: Pacers clinched
• Tiebreaker vs. Washington: Pacers currently own via conference win percentage
• Tiebreaker vs. Chicago: Pacers clinched