Which teams have already qualified for the 2025 NBA playoffs?

We’ve arrived at the final stretch of the NBA 2024-25 regular season and after sixty plus games, a clearer picture in each conference is emerging as which teams will be involved in post-season, which teams need a final push and those teams that will wrap up their season on April 13 when the regular season comes to a conclusion.

The top six teams in each conference advance directly to the playoffs, while the seventh and eighth places are determined through the Play-in Tournament.

Eastern Conference Overview

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland have the honour of being the first team in the league to secure a playoff spot and are in contention to secure first place in the East. The last time the Cavs managed a similar feat, they went on to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Kenny Atkinson’s men will be hoping to improve on last season’s post-season when his Cavs team were eliminated by eventual champions, Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals in five games.

Boston Celtics

Last season’s winners and the NBA’s most successful franchise of all-time with 18 wins, have secured at least a spot in the play-in tournament as things stand.

The Celtics are one of the league’s most consistent teams in the past decade having qualified for the playoffs in the last 10 seasons. In this time they have made it to the conference finals in four of the last five seasons. After their 2024 win, in this timeframe, the Massachusetts team also lost the 2022 final falling to the Warriors.

Western Conference Overview

Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC at present have have secured at least a spot in the play-in tournament

The Thunder continue to shine this season and remain at the top of the West with an impressive record of 51-11. They have been at the top for most of the season and are expected to secure top seed in the West.

Oklahoma will be hoping to go one step further this season too after falling to 2024 beaten finalists Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals.

In the West, the likes of Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets are on the cusp of bagging playoff spots with the Lakers now a new force to contend with following the acquisition of Slovenian star Luka Doncic last month.

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