NBA Playoff Race Update: Miami Holding On in the East

Eastern Conference - Bubble Teams

(6) Detroit Pistons (37-36, 83.3%)
(7) Brooklyn Nets (38-37, 86.2%)
(8) Miami Heat (36-37, 60.2%)
(9) Orlando Magic (36-38, 50.6%)
(10) Charlotte Hornets (34-39, 19.8%)

Only four games separate these five teams in the standings, so there's a whole lot of different scenarios left in play here.

The Pistons and Nets seem to have a weekly tradition of swapping places back and forth between sixth and seventh, but the sixth-place Pistons are only a game and a half up on the ninth-place Magic at this point, so neither is even a given to make the postseason just yet. They both have playoff probability odds north of 83%, but stranger things have happened.

If we assume that the Nets and Pistons are likely to make it, however, that would leave the Heat, Magic, and Hornets to duke it out for that eighth and final spot. Our algorithm still prefers the Heat, but the Magic have won five straight and the Hornets have won three in a row as well, so neither is going down without a fight.