WITH less than three weeks left to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) 2025/26 regular season, and less than a dozen games left for each team, it is safe to say the league is officially on play-off watch. Teams with postseason ambitions will be embroiled in heated battles for play-off berths and positioning, ahead of the start of the NBA play-offs on April 18.

The top six teams in each conference will earn an outright play-off position at the conclusion of the regular season on April 12, while the next four teams in each conference (No 7-10) will compete in the Play-In Tournament (April 14-17) to determine the last two seeds (No 7 and 8) in each conference, respectively. The action from here to mid-April promises to be intense down the stretch.

As is, seven teams have already been eliminated from play-off contention, three in the Eastern Conference and four in the Western Conference. Last year’s beaten finalist and 2025 Eastern Conference champions, the Indiana Pacers, will miss their first play-offs since 2023, while the other two in the East, the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards will respectively miss their third- and fifth-consecutive postseasons. In the Western Conference, the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks will miss the play-offs for the second-consecutive season, while the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz will miss their third- and fifth-consecutive play-offs, respectively.

On a positive note, defending champion, the Oklahoma City Thunder, booked a spot in the play-offs on March 17, for their third-consecutive season, while Western Conference rivals, the San Antonio Spurs, confirmed play-off participation on March 20, for the first time since 2019. The only other confirmed participant (so far) in the play-offs is the surprise leader in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Pistons, who have made a turnaround for the ages, after dragging the dregs of the NBA for the last six seasons.

This weekend, the action promises more of what has been delivered all season, and every game is chock-full of expectations. The teams at the top of each conference will be trying to solidify their positions, while the other teams with play-off ambitions will be hoping to make a solid impression. Twenty-five games are on tap between today and Sunday, with each carrying its own plot and subplots, but there are three which should be on the must-watch list.

The Boston Celtics sit uncomfortably in the No 2 slot, behind the Pistons, and will look to create firmer footing when they take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight. The season series is currently split 1-1, with each registering victories as visitors, but those games were before the return of Boston’s Jayson Tatum in early March, after being sidelined by an ankle injury since last May. Jaylen Brown has been overperforming all season without Tatum, but with the team strengthened by his return, the run to the playoffs should look a lot better. The Hawks took the series 2-1 last season and are habitually winning games recently, but the tables should be turned this evening with a Celtics win in TD Garden, in Boston..

The Minnesota Timberwolves is awkwardly sitting near the edge of the Play-In Tournament as the end of the season nears, and they welcome the East-leading Pistons into Target Center tomorrow afternoon for a serious test of their fortitude. The season series is split 1-1, with each team winning on their home floor, but this matchup in Minnesota has nothing to do with where the game is played. The Pistons lost both games in the series last season, but that was before they found their defensive mojo this year, and the Timberwolves should be in for a wild ride. That said, the Pistons lost Cade Cunningham to a collapsed lung last week, which will put a dent in their plans and allow Anthony Edwards and company to have an easier outing. It should be a close game, with Detroit’s defensive prowess on show, but without Cunningham and the Pistons on the road, the edge has to go to Minnesota.

The NBA-leading Thunder welcome the New York Knicks to Oklahoma City early Sunday evening for the unarguable marquee game of the weekend. The Thunder have owned the Knicks for the past few seasons, won the earlier meeting this season, 103-100, and are on their second major winning streak of the season, following a 16-game streak from November to December 2025. The Knicks have made it a habit of winning also, but they are visiting the defending champions, who have the Spurs on their tail, and have the best homecourt record in the league. A win for New York cannot be ruled out, but with such and deep squad, plus the return from injury of Jalen Williams this week, a bet against theThunder would not be smart.

Every game from here until mid-April must be treated like a play-off match-up, even against teams the have been eliminated from contention, or have very little chance to participate. The stakes are high and there is very little room for mistakes.The present landscape offers play-off clinching, play-off seeding and play-off elimination scenarios, and each one is as enticing as the next.

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