2022 NBA Playoffs Photo: Nets seal 7th place, rest of game seeds set; Celtics control fate of No. 2

We’re about halfway through the final day of the 2021-22 NBA regular season, and a lot has been decided, including all the seeds in the East. The Brooklyn Nets will be No. 7, the Cleveland Cavaliers No. 8, the Atlanta Hawks No. 9 and the Charlotte Hornets No. 10.

Still to be decided: the 2-4 seeds in the East and the 3-4 and 5-6 seeds in the West.

Below are the current first-round and play-in matches that are locked. We will update this post as more seeds and matches are locked.

Eastern Conference

1. Miami Heat

Miami clinched the No. 1 seed.

• Current match of the first round: TBD (match results)

2. Milwaukee dollars

Milwaukee lost to the Cavs on Sunday, which means if the Celtics beat the Grizzlies, it will be Boston who wins the No. 2 seed by way of a fourth tiebreaker – record against Conference playoff teams East (Boston 20-13, Milwaukee 17-16).

In case of a three-way tie between Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia, which remains a possibility if Boston and Philly win their last game, the tie breaker is to recognize the division winners first, which would remove Philadelphia from the equation as Boston would win the Atlantic Division via a better division record. Then it would be to Milwaukee and Boston as division winners, which sends it to a straight two-team tiebreaker. And since we just passed it, Boston would win that tiebreaker by record against playoff teams in the East, leaving Boston No. 2, Milwaukee No. 3 and Philadelphia No. 4.

• Current match of the first round: Nets vs. Cavaliers play-in winner
• Tiebreaker against No. 3 Boston: Boston clinched via record against Eastern playoff teams (see above for storyline)
• Tiebreaker against No. 4 Philadelphia: The Bucks clinched via a 2-1 head-to-head advantage

3.Boston Celtics

The Celtics are in position to claim the No. 2 seed with a win over Memphis on Sunday night. (See above for the Bucks tiebreaker scenario).

In case of a three-way tie between Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia, which remains a possibility if the Sixers and Celtics both win their final game tonight, the tiebreaker is recognizing the division winners first, which would remove Philadelphia from the equation as Boston would win the Atlantic Division via a better division record. Then it would be to Milwaukee and Boston as division winners, which sends it to a straight two-team tiebreaker. And since we just passed it, Boston would win that tiebreaker by record against playoff teams in the East, leaving Boston No. 2, Milwaukee No. 3 and Philadelphia No. 4.

• Current match of the first round: Bulls
• Tiebreaker against No. 2 Milwaukee: Celtics lead season 2-1 with one game to go
• Tiebreaker against No. 4 Philadelphia: Celtics clinched via Atlantic Division record (head-to-head tied 2-2)

4. Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers can only move to No. 3 if they beat the Pistons and the Celtics lose to Memphis. In the event of a three-way tie with Boston and Milwaukee, the tie breaker is to recognize the division winners first, which would eliminate Philadelphia from the equation as Boston would win the Atlantic Division via a better division record. Then it would be to Milwaukee and Boston as division winners, which sends it to a straight two-team tiebreaker. And since we just passed it, Boston would win that tiebreaker by record against playoff teams in the East, leaving Boston No. 2, Milwaukee No. 3 and Philadelphia No. 4.

• Current match of the first round: raptors
• Tiebreaker against No. 2 Boston: Boston clinched via Atlantic Division record
• Tiebreaker against No. 3 Milwaukee: The Bucks clinched via a 2-1 head-to-head advantage
• Tiebreaker against No. 5 Toronto: The Raptors clinched with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage

5. Toronto Raptors

The Raptors are locked into the No. 5 seed.

• Current play-in match: 76ers

6. Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are locked in the No. 6 seed.

• Current first round matchup: Bucks

Eastern play-in matches

• April 12: No. 8 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 7 Brooklyn Nets
• April 13: #10 Charlotte Hornets vs. #7 Atlanta Hawks
• April 15: Winner of Charlotte/Atlanta against loser of Cleveland/Brooklyn

Western Conference

1. Phoenix Suns

Phoenix clinched the No. 1 seed overall.

• Current match of the first round: TBD (match results)

2. Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies clinched the No. 2 seed.

3. Golden State Warriors

The Warriors will be the No. 3 seed with a win over New Orleans on Sunday night or a Dallas loss to San Antonio. If they lose and Dallas beats the Spurs, Golden State will drop to No. 4.

• Current match of the first round: Nuggets
• Tiebreaker against Mavericks #4: Dallas clinched with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage

4. Dallas Mavericks

Dallas can only move to No. 3 with a win over the Spurs and a Warriors loss to the Pelicans.

• Current match of the first round: Jazz
• Tiebreaker vs #3 Warriors: Dallas clinched with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage

5. Utah Jazz

Utah will clinch the No. 5 seed with a win over Portland or a Denver loss to the Lakers on Sunday night.

• Current match of the first round: Mavericks
• Tiebreaker against No. 6 Nuggets: Jazz clinched with a 4-0 head-to-head advantage

6. Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets need to beat the Lakers and lose the Jazz to the Blazers tonight to move to the No. 6 seed or Denver will be No. 6.

• Current play-in match: Warriors
• Tiebreaker against No. 5 Jazz: Utah clinched with a 4-0 head-to-head advantage

Western play-in matches

• April 12: No. 8 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 7 Minnesota Timberwolves
• April 13: No. 10 San Antonio Spurs at No. 9 New Orleans Pelicans
• April 15: Loser of Clippers/Minnesota vs Winner of San Antonio/New Orleans