The 2025/26 National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season will close in less than a month, with the closing weeks expected to provide intense action. The final day of the regular season is set for April 12, and the postseason starts on April 14 with the Play-In Tournament, before the play-offs tip off on April 18. In total, 16 teams will be contending through a bracket of best-of-seven series for the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the start of the play-offs, eight teams from the Western Conference and another eight from the Eastern Conference.

Therefore, a total of 20 teams will play past April 12. Six teams from each conference will battle to secure playoff places in the next few weeks, and four from each conference will claw their way through the Play-In Tournament to see which two will qualify for the official postseason bracket. And while the play-off picture slowly develops, in the East, the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, and last year’s beaten finalist, the Indiana Pacers, have all been eliminated from play-off contention, while the Sacramento Kings are the only already eliminated team in the West.

Speaking of which, the defending Western Conference and NBA champion, the Oklahoma City Thunder, after a 113-108 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, became the first team to clinch a spot in the play-offs. While they have not been as dominant as they were in last year’s 68-win season, they have been stringing wins together and ace Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA), the reigning league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), is making a strong bid to repeat as MVP, and hopefully also as NBA champion.

The Thunder have led the Western Conference wire-to-wire since the start of the season, faltered a bit between December and February, due to injuries to key players, including SGA, but have maintained their NBA-best record. A critical factor in their championship run last season was Jalen Williams, who has been out for the better part of this season, having played only 26 games due to a hamstring issue, and his status remains up in the air as the play-offs approach. If he cannot factor into their play-off run, the chance of repeating will be significantly diminished.

Having secured their spot, where they can’t be seeded any less than fifth or sixth going into the play-offs, Oklahoma City needs only to maintain the current pace to keep the top seed in the West and position themselves to repeat as champions, a feat last achieved by the Golden State Warriors in 2018. That said, the San Antonio Spurs are making their presence felt and have apparently forgotten what it feels like to lose, after last making the play-offs in the 2018/19 season. They are currently second in the West, behind leaders Oklahoma City, and the only other team with 50 wins, having tasted defeat only twice since the start of February.

In the East, the Detroit Pistons are enjoying a colossal resurgence, leading the Conference after several years in the NBA basement. They tied a franchise record with a 13-game win streak and already have their best record since 2008, with still 12 games left to play, a stark contrast to their 14-68 record in 2023/24. They are closely followed by the Boston Celtics, two years removed from their NBA-most 18th title in 2024, who have been bolstered by the return of Jayson Tatum earlier this month. Tatum returned after a 298-day absence following a ruptured right Achilles tendon sustained on May 12, 2025, during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. And in his first few games he averaged 19.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, a most welcome contribution to Boston’s title hopes.

The top two in each Conference aside, the rest of the play-off hopefuls are very tightly bunched, particularly in the West. Therefore, the full play-off picture will probably not take form until the final day of the regular season. These narrow margins promise some intense basketball as the season winds down, and this weekend is no exception. The top two teams in each conference have fairly soft challengers (on paper) this weekend, but even teams like the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans, that appeared to be done and dusted earlier this season, have put together a string of convincing wins and are now looking like challengers for play-off positions.

The Thunder is looking to secure the top seed in the Western Conference for the third season running and is the only team to already secure a playoff spot, but six other teams in the West are guaranteed at least a Play-In Tournament appearance. The Spurs are lurking, waiting for them to make a slip, and are the hottest ticket in the league right now, while the Pistons are in the middle of a miracle, but have lost ground to the bolstered Celtics. The picture for the postseason is taking shape, and a lot can still happen, but the Thunder are on a mission and have already staked their claim.

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