Early NBA playoff race predictions. Plus, the Wizards’ offseason begins

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Otto Porter Jr. announced his retirement. Congratulations on a 12-year career, champ.

East Playoff Race

What to watch in the final month of the season

We have one month and two days until the regular season’s end, so let’s do a roundup on how East’s playoff situation looks. Here’s what you need to know:

What’s been settled in the East? The Celtics (50-14) are locked into the No. 1 seed in spirit and imminent legalities, as well. They’re 8.5 games up on Milwaukee(42-23) with 18 games to play. The Celtics could start us for the rest of the season and still end up first — because I believe in us.

We also know that Charlotte (16-49, 13th in East), Washington (11-53, 14th in East) and Detroit (11-53, last in East) have no Play-In hopes. The Wizards have been officially eliminated with the Pistons soon joining. The Hornets could win the rest of its games to finish 33-49 for the season, but the Hawks (29-35, 10th in East) would have to go only 5-13 to keep Charlotte out.

Is it just Cleveland and Milwaukee fighting for the No. 2 seed? Yes, because of the Knicks’ (37-27, fourth in East) injuries. I think a healthy Knicks team could battle it out with them, but we don’t know when they’re going to be healthy enough to make a push. As for the No. 2 seed’s race, Milwaukee has a one-game lead but needs help from Indiana to grab the tiebreaker. Those teams’ season series is tied 2-2, but if the Cavaliers (41-24, third in East) win their remaining two games against the Pacers (36-29, seventh in East), they’ll have the better division record. Prediction: Milwaukee finishes second.

Who do we think finishes fourth through sixth in the East? New York, Orlando (37-28, fifth in East), Philadelphia (36-28, sixth in East), Indiana and Miami (35-29, eighth in East) are all separated in No. 4-8 by two games. Each team is a half game behind the preceding one. Indiana has the toughest schedule of those five teams. Miami has the easiest. Prediction: Orlando finishes fourth, New York fifth, Miami sixth, Indiana seventh and Philly eighth.

Can the Nets or Raptors actually catch the Play-In? Toronto is pretty much toast. The Raptors (23-42, 12th in East) are a half game closer to the Hawks than to the Hornets. Brooklyn (26-39, 11th in East) has a decent chance despite being 3.5 back of Atlanta. The Nets also own the tiebreaker over the Hawks, but this Nets team stinks.

Games from last night: 

Celtics 121, Blazers 99: Boston got 27 points from Jaylen Brown, 26 from Jayson Tatum and 22 from Sam Hauser off the bench to become the first team to reach 50 wins this season.

Pistons 114, Hornets 97: Here’s how bad Charlotte is: The Pistons shot 23.8 percent on 42 3-point attempts and still smoked the Hornets.

Nuggets 125, Raptors 119: Nikola Jokić had 35 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists, six steals, becoming the first player ever to reach those marks in a game. He added two blocks to lead a 21-point, second-half comeback by Denver (45-20, second in West).

The Latest From Shams

Updates on Kai Jones, OG Anunoby, Wemby

The 76ers met and worked out with 2021 first-round pick Kai Jones on Saturday, league sources tell me. The Hornets waived Jones in mid-October, and Philadelphia has an open roster spot as it looks to remain in the top six in the Eastern Conference.

Jones, who was drafted 19th overall out of Texas, averaged just 2.7 points per game in 67 games over two seasons with Charlotte. But he averaged 13.5 points and 8.0 rebounds for the Bahamas recently across two FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers group-stage games against Puerto Rico.

• I’m told Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama is expected to play tonight against Houston on the second leg of a back-to-back. The rookie missed two games last week due to an ankle sprain but returned last night and put up 27 points and 14 rebounds in a loss to the Warriors.

• The Knicks’ OG Anunoby has been out since late January with an elbow injury. He was listed as questionable on New York’s injury report this morning, but I’m told he’s expected back as soon as tonight when the Knicks host the 76ers.

West Playoff Race

The West’s crazy push for No. 1

The West is much crazier than the East, just like it almost always ends up being. Let’s dig through how the final month can look:

Who is going to win the West’s No. 1 seed? The Thunder (45-19, first in West) currently have a half game lead on Denver, a 1.5-game lead on Minnesota (44-21, third in West), and a 3.5-game lead on the Clippers (41-22, fourth in West). LA is pretty much out of this No. 1 seed race. The Wolves still have a chance at the No. 1 seed but play Denver three more times and need to win two of those. There is also still no Karl-Anthony Towns. OKC has the tiebreaker on Denver. Prediction: OKC finishes first, Denver second, Minnesota third and LA fourth.

How is fifth through eighth looking in the West? New Orleans (39-25, fifth in West) is surging right now and holds a 1.5-game lead on Phoenix (38-27, sixth in West) for No. 5. The Pelicans have two more games against the Suns, so those two games will probably determine who gets fifth. Phoenix has a one-game lead on Sacramento (36-27, seventh in West) and Dallas (37-28, eighth in West) for sixth. The Suns also have the third-toughest schedule left. Prediction: New Orleans finishes fifth, Dallas sixth, Phoenix seventh and Sacramento eighth. 

Can the Lakers or Warriors realistically catch the top eight? The Lakers (36-30, ninth in West) are only 1.5 games behind Dallas for eighth in the West, and the Warriors (34-30, 10th in West) are just 2.5 games behind the Mavericks. They both have good chances of moving up to better than ninth in the West. As long as the Warriors get Curry back, they can use their three remaining games against Dallas to shoot up the West standings. Prediction: Lakers finish ninth, Warriors finish 10th.

So, this is a reverse Play-In race? Yes, it is. The Rockets (29-35, 11th in West) and Jazz (28-36, 12th in West) aren’t really in the hunt to challenge for 10th. They’re just technically still active. The Spurs (14-51, last in West) have already been eliminated, with Portland (18-46, 14th in West) and Memphis (22-43, 13th in West) not far behind.

More games from last night: 

Suns 117, Cavs 111: Phoenix had 37 from Kevin Durant, 27 from Devin Booker and 24 from Bradley Beal to beat a battered Cleveland team on the road.

Mavs 127, Bulls 92: Luka Dončić had 27 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds to help demolish Chicago from the opening tip.

Warriors 112, Spurs 102: No Curry for the Warriors, but they overcame 27 points and 14 rebounds from Victor Wembanyama.

Have a Great Summer

What’s up for the Wizards’ offseason?

The Wizards were the first team eliminated from Play-In Tournament contention in the East. Let’s tie a bow on their year and give a lookahead for this coming offseason. We’ll do this for teams as they get mathematically eliminated.

Washington’s bright spot from this season? Rookie Bilal Coulibaly (turns 20 in July ) looked good at times, and we saw some nice play from Kyle Kuzma (29 in July), Tyus Jones (28 in May) and Deni Avdija (23 years old).

Key free agents for Washington: Jones, Richaun Holmes (player option)

Biggest position to address: They need to figure out if they want to throw big money at Jones as their point guard. Otherwise, maybe a sign-and-trade is in order. They also need to figure out how to motivate Jordan Poole (turns 25 in July) to at least look like he cares.

What’s the draft-pick situation? They have their current pick top-12 protected, so they’ll keep that. They’ll also receive the Clippers’ first-round pick.

Will they have cap space? Absolutely not, which is crazy considering their level of talent.

2023-24 yearbook quote: “We promise to have swimming at the next Poole Party!”

Bounce Passes

Law Murray breaks down how each team has adjusted its rotation since the first week.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have honed their two-man game, and it’s working.

The Kobe Bryant statue has four typos?

Screen Game (All times Eastern)

• Main Screen: Wolves-Clippers (10 p.m. TNT). This is actually a must-win if Minnesota wants to hunt the No. 1 seed.
• Second Screen: Bucks-Kings (10 p.m.). Milwaukee is off to a rough road trip, and Sacramento has been shaky lately.
• League Pass Game of the Night: Pacers-Thunder (8 p.m.). Two of the best offenses in the NBA. But can OKC’s defense stifle Indiana’s scoring? Full schedule here.

(Top photo: Michael Owens / Getty Images )