The 2025 NBA playoff bracket is nearly set, but seven seeds still need to be determined in the Western Conference on Sunday. All 30 teams are in action this afternoon on the final day of the 2024-25 regular season, and there is plenty at stake. The Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves all control their own destiny for a top-six seed and a guaranteed playoff spot in the Western Conference. Three teams control their destinies for two spots because two of them play each other: Warriors vs. Clippers will be the most-anticipated game of Sunday as Stephen Curry, James Harden and more meet in Golden State.
There is not the same Sunday drama in the East. By way of the Pacers’ loss to the Magic and the Bucks’ win over the Pistons on Friday night, all 10 Eastern Conference playoff/play-in seeds, and the corresponding first-round matchups, are now set. We’ll get Knicks vs. Pistons and Pacers vs. Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, while the top-seeded Cavaliers and No. 2 Celtics will wait to see who emerges from the Play-In Tournament between the Magic, Hawks, Bulls and Heat.
With all that out of the way, let’s take a deeper look at the standings and scenarios for Sunday.
Who’s clinched?
- East seeds 1-6 are set in this order: Cavaliers, Celtics, Knicks, Pacers, Bucks and Pistons.
- The Thunder, Rockets and Lakers, respectively, have clinched the West’s top three seeds.
- The Magic, Hawks, Bulls and Heat are in the East’s Play-In Tournament
- The Grizzlies, Kings and Mavericks are in the West’s Play-In Tournament.
What’s at stake on Sunday?
(All tiebreakers are explained here.)
- The Nuggets clinch the No. 4 seed with a win against the Rockets.
- The Clippers clinch a top-five seed with a win against the Warriors.
- The Warriors clinch the No. 6 seed with a win against the Clippers.
- The Timberwolves clinch clinch a top-six seed with a win against the Jazz.
- The Kings clinch the No. 9 seed with a win against the Suns or a Mavericks loss.
- The Mavericks clinch the No. 9 seed with a win against the Grizzlies and a Kings loss.
2025 NBA playoff bracket
East first-round matchups
- No. 1 Cavaliers vs. No. 8 Magic/Hawks/Bulls/Heat
- No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Magic/Hawks
- No. 3 Knicks vs. No. 6 Pistons
- No. 4 Pacers vs. No. 5 Bucks
West first-round matchups
*Entering Sunday’s games…
No. 1 Thunder vs. No. 8 Timberwolves/Grizzlies/Kings/Mavericks
No. 2 Rockets vs. No. 7 Timberwolves/Grizzlies
No. 3 Lakers vs. No. 6 Warriors
No. 4 Nuggets vs. No. 5 Clippers
Entering the final day of the regular season on Sunday, here are the 2024-25 NBA standings.
Eastern Conference standings
Western Conference standings
| Rank | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City – x | 67 | 14 | — |
| 2 | Houston – x | 52 | 29 | 13.0 |
| 3 | L.A. Lakers – x | 50 | 31 | 17.0 |
| 4 | Denver | 49 | 32 | 18.0 |
| 5 | L.A. Clippers | 49 | 32 | 18.0 |
| 6 | Golden St. | 48 | 33 | 19.0 |
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Minnesota | 48 | 33 | 19.0 |
| 8 | Memphis | 47 | 34 | 19.0 |
| 9 | Sacramento | 39 | 42 | 27.0 |
| 10 | Dallas | 39 | 42 | 28.0 |
x = clinched playoff spot
As a reminder: the top six teams in each conference automatically get spots in the 16-team playoff field. The final four playoff spots will be determined by the Play-In Tournament, which will feature Nos. 7-10 in each conference. The seventh-place team hosts the eight-place team to earn the No. 7 seed. The loser of that game will face the winner of a game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams for the No. 8 seed.
Tiebreakers
Here’s how NBA playoff tiebreakers work:
In the event of a two-way tie, the team that won the season series gets the higher seed. If they split the season series and one of the teams won its division, the division winner gets the higher seed. If that doesn’t resolve the tie, then the tiebreakers are, in order: division record (if the teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
In the event that more than two teams are tied, the tiebreakers are, in order: division winner, record against tied teams, division record (if all tied teams are in the same division), conference record, record against top-10 in-conference teams, record against top-10 teams in both conferences, point differential.
And here’s a breakdown of who currently holds some of the key tiebreakers:
- The Nuggets hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Warriors.
- The Clippers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Warriors and Grizzlies.
- The Grizzlies hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Timberwolves.
- The Warriors hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Timberwolves and Grizzlies.
- The Timberwolves hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Nuggets and Clippers.
- The Kings hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Mavericks
