INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers have officially clinched a postseason berth.
The top 10 teams in the NBA's eastern and western conferences make the postseason. As of Friday morning, Indiana sat at sixth in the east with a 39-31 overall record.
The Pacers are 13 games ahead of the 11th-place Brooklyn Nets (26-44) in the eastern conference standings with 12 games remaining in the season, meaning the worst Indiana could finish is 10th.
If the Pacers were to finish worse than sixth in the east, they could be quickly eliminated from the postseason during the NBA's play-in tournament.
First introduced in 2020, the play-in tournament pits teams that finish 7th-10th during the regular season against each other. The play-in tournament winners receive the seventh and eighth seeds in the NBA Playoffs. The losers are eliminated from the postseason.
To eliminate the risk of early elimination, the Pacers need to finish sixth in the regular season standings. The regular season concludes on April 14.
As of this article's publication, the Pacers' postseason ceiling is the No. 2 seed in the east. The second-place Milwaukee Bucks (45-25) currently sit six games ahead of the Pacers.
The first-place Boston Celtics (55-14) are out of reach for Indiana. The Pacers trail the fourth-seed Orlando Magic (42-28) and fifth-seed New York Knicks (41-28) by three and 2.5 games, respectively.
Indiana could also climb past the third-place Cleveland Cavaliers (43-26) during the final three weeks of the season.
The Pacers are also in serious danger of dropping into the play-in tournament because they are currently only half a game ahead of the seventh-place Miami Heat (38-31) and eighth-place Philadelphia 76ers (38-31).
Indiana has key games against the Heat, Cavaliers, ninth-place Chicago Bulls (34-36) and 10th-place Atlanta Hawks (30-39) left on their schedule.
If Indiana is tied with at least one other team in the standings at the end of the season, the NBA will employ tiebreakers to determine seeding.
More information on league standings and the NBA's postseason is available here.
NBA Eastern Conference Standings as of March 22 at 1 p.m.
- Boston Celtics (55-14)
- Milwaukee Bucks (45-25)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (43-26)
- Orlando Magic (42-28)
- New York Knicks (41-28)
- Indiana Pacers (39-31)
- Miami Heat (38-31)
- Philadelphia 76ers (38-31)
- Chicago Bulls (34-36)
- Atlanta Hawks (30-39)
- Brooklyn Nets (26-44)
- Toronto Raptors (23-46)
- Charlotte Hornets (17-52)
- Detroit Pistons (12-57) — Eliminated from postseason contention
- Washington Wizards (12-58) — Eliminated from postseason contention