The play-offs for the 2025/26 National Basketball Association (NBA) season are less than two weeks away, and the postseason picture is developing slowly, but surely. Seven teams (three in the Eastern Conference and four in the Western Conference) have already secured one of the 12 automatic play-off spot, while 10 teams have already been eliminated from play-off contention, five in each conference, leaving the play-off aspirants battling for the other five automatic spots, or one of the eight spots for the Play-In Tournament.

Therefore, three automatic play-off spots are still up for grabs in the East, while only two are available in the West, and there are seven and four teams in the East and West, respectively, who are still in with a chance for play-off berths. For those who fall short of the mark, they will need to play extra games (play-in tournament) to determine the seventh and eighth seed in each conference for the play-offs.

Already eliminated are the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, and Indiana Pacers in the East, while the Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz are confirmed out in the West. However, the eliminated teams still have games to play and will therefore have a significant part to play in the final seedings.

The confirmed play-off teams in the East are the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, while in the West the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets are already in, but the battle is still on for final positioning since the higher seed assumes home court advantage in each seven-game series. And with a handful of games left for each team to play, and the margin for error being so thin, every matchup until the end of the regular season on April 12 will take on a play-off atmosphere.

As is, the top four teams in each conference have made their presence felt from the jump and all, except the Cleveland Cavaliers, are safely in the play-offs. In the East, the Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, and Cavaliers are looking like bona fide contenders, while the West has been flexing, boasting the Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, and Nuggets, who appear like they would be able to overpower any team that emerges out of the East. That said, only the top two in each conference have meaningful distance between themselves and the teams seeded below, so changes are possible, but not a lot of change is expected.

The defending champion Oklahoma City, following a 114-110 overtime win against Detroit on Monday night, became the first team to hit the 60-win mark, and are looking to close out the regular season atop the West, with the best record in the league. Hot on their heels is San Antonio, with Victor Wembanyama (Wemby) securing his first play-off appearance and playing like a man possessed. JustBet still has the Thunder as favourites to win this year, but the Spurs have gotten the better of them in four of the five encounters this season, and they will likely meet again in the Western Conference Finals. That should be worth the price of admission, but there is a lot to accomplish done before that is even considered.

In the immediate future, the top four teams in each conference have very enticing matchups this weekend, but none more so than the Spurs visiting the Nuggets tomorrow afternoon. Apart from the Thunder, the Spurs have the best away record in the league this season and they have split the season series 1-1 with the Nuggets, with both winning on each other’s floor in high-scoring encounters — The Spurs won 139-136 in Denver last November, and the Nugget won 136-131 in mid-March, in San Antonio. However, Wemby missed the March encounter and had to watch while the Nuggets eclipsed a 20-point deficit to take the win.

Both teams have showcased high-scoring offences in their matchups and nothing less is expected tomorrow. San Antonio is third in point differential and defensive rating and fifth in offense. They have the second-best record in clutch games and have more wins against opponents that are .500 or better than any other team in the league. On the other end of the floor, Denver hasn’t had its full complement of players available for most of the season — Nikola Jokic, Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson, and Aaron Gordon all missed significant time this season — but they are still first in offensive rating and have remained in and around the top-four seed in the West for most of the season. The only impact of the missing players is their 20th-ranked defence, which should be a major concern entering this matchup, especially with the Spurs in hot pursuit of the Thunder.

Both Wemby and Jokic are in the heat of the Most Valuable Player discussion this season, with Wemby almost a shoo-in for Defensive Player of the Year. This should be an exhilarating encounter, with two elite offenses going at it. The previous two matchups were high-scoring and close, and the same is expected tomorrow, but look for the Spurs turn the screw on defence and continue their Thunder-chase.

There is very little time left in the regular season but there is still a lot of ground to cover. No seeding is truly safe, and every team is within reach of at least one other. It promises to be a wild ride from now until mid-April, then the gladiators will fight until only one is left standing. Strap in and brace for impact. I love this game!

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