Celtics playoffs: Boston gets tough news for top seed in East

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Celtics playoffs: Boston gets tough news for top seed in East

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Fri, Apr 3, 2026 ·

3 min read

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The Celtics were unlikely to get the No. 1 seed in the East, trailing the Pistons for most of the regular season. But following the past few days, their chances are even slimmer to nab the top seed in the East playoffs.

The Pistons have held steady despite missing Cade Cunningham since March 17 to a collapsed lung. Detroit has won seven of its last nine games, improving its record to 56-21. If the Pistons had faltered over that Cunningham-less stretch, then there was a chance the Celtics could have snuck in for the No. 1 seed.

Instead, the Celtics’ odds for the No. 1 seed are on life support. Either a Boston loss or Detroit win will clinch the top seed for the Pistons. Detroit has the 3-1 head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston, so it was going to be an uphill battle for the Celtics to clinch that top spot.

Here’s a look at the current East standings:

Place	Team	Wins	Losses	Games back
No. 1	Detroit Pistons	56	21	--
No. 2	Boston Celtics	51	25	4.5
No. 3	New York Knicks	49	28	7
No. 4	Cleveland Cavaliers	48	29	8
No. 5	Atlanta Hawks	44	33	12
No. 6	Philadelphia 76ers	42	34	13.5
No. 7	Toronto Raptors	42	34	13.5
No. 8	Charlotte Hornets	41	36	15
No. 9	Orlando Magic	40	36	15.5
No. 10	Miami Heat	40	37	16

Notably, the Celtics still have a 2.5-game lead over the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East. The teams will meet April 9 in New York, which will have big implications in the race for second place. However, the Knicks will finish with the tiebreaker over the Celtics regardless of what happens April 9. So for Boston to finish second, it needs to have an outright better record than New York.

Keep an eye on the Cavaliers, the fourth-place team in the East. While they’re unlikely to catch the Celtics for second place, they could overtake the Knicks for third. The Cavs are just one game behind the Knicks, though New York owns the 2-1 head-to-head tiebreaker over Cleveland. Still, it’s something to monitor.

The Hawks, one of the hottest teams in the NBA, have created some distance with the jam-packed bottom of the East. The Hawks are up to fifth in the East, which would be huge for them to avoid the play-in tournament. Atlanta has soared up the standings in recent weeks, and if it stays in fifth, Boston won’t have to worry about the Hawks until the East Finals should both teams make it that far.

The Nos. 6-10 spots in the East continue to be jumbled. The 76ers and Raptors are tied for sixth, though Philadelphia owns the tiebreaker over Toronto. However, of note, both Miami and Orlando are fading to end the regular season. Both teams are locked into a play-in spot, but they’re 2-8 in the last 10 games. So they’ve slumped heading into the most important part of the season.

If the season ended today, the Celtics would face either the Hornets or Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. The Raptors would host the Hornets in Toronto in the play-in tournament, with the winner of that game advancing to face the Celtics. But there’s still a little over a week in the regular season, so movement should be expected.

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