Full playoff picture, bracket, play-in tournament dates

The NBA playoffs are approaching for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite a disastrous start to the season and a year full of ups and downs, a franchise-altering trade, a major injury to one of their star players and a lengthy suspension to another core player, the Bucks are still squarely in the playoff picture.

However, the Bucks are slumping again and dropping in the standings.

After falling to the New York Knicks on Friday, the Bucks have now lost five of their last seven games. With just nine games left in the regular season, the Bucks are the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

A No. 6 seed would be the Bucks’ worst position in the playoffs since the 2017-18 season when they were the seventh seed. The Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, have been a third seed or better in every season since then.

If the playoffs began today, the Bucks and Knicks would meet in a first-round playoff series. The Bucks went winless against the Knicks this season. They lost by scores of 116-94, early in the season on Nov. 8, 140-106 on Jan. 12 and for a final time on Friday night, 116-109.

No matter who the Bucks play in the playoffs it appears that they’ll do it without All-Star Damian Lillard, who is out indefinitely as he treats blood clots in his right calf.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Bucks as they head toward the playoffs:

Milwaukee Bucks record

Milwaukee dropped to 40-33 after Friday’s loss to the Knicks.

The Bucks began the year 2-8 before recovering and working their way back into the playoff picture. They even won the NBA’s in-season tournament. But they’ve battled inconsistency, struggled on the road and have failed mightily against the best teams.

They’ve had some frustrating losses to the likes of the Brooklyn Nets three times, Chicago Bulls twice, Portland Trailblazers twice and Charlotte Hornets.

Most telling about where they are as a franchise, however, is that they could not beat any of the Eastern Conference’s top three teams in 2024-25, going 0-10 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Knicks.

The Bucks have been playing without Bobby Portis since late February as he continues serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and more recently they lost Lillard, who is out indefinitely with blood clots in his right calf.

The Bucks’ roster saw significant changes as well this season. They departed with all-time great Khris Middleton and brought in Kyle Kuzma from the Washington Wizards and Kevin Porter Jr. from the Los Angeles Clippers in separate trades.

NBA standings

Here are the standings for the Eastern and Western conferences heading into games on Saturday, Msrch 29. The top six are playoff teams, while teams 7-10 compete in a play-in tournament to earn the seventh and eighth seeds when the regular season ends. The last day of regular-season games is Sunday, April 13.

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland Cavaliers: 59-15
2. Boston Celtics: 54-19
3. New York Knicks: 46-27
4. Indiana Pacers: 43-30
5. Detroit Pistons: 42-32
6. Milwaukee Bucks: 40-33

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7. Atlanta Hawks: 35-38

8. Orlando Magic: 35-39

9. Chicago Bulls: 33-40

10. Miami Heat: 32-41

11. Toronto Raptors: 27-47

12. Philadelphia 76ers: 23-50

The Brooklyn Nets (23-51), Charlotte Hornets (18-55) and Washington Wizards (16-57) have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Western Conference

1. Oklahoma City Thunder: 61-12
2. Houston Rockets: 48-26
3. Denver Nuggets: 47-28
4. Los Angeles Lakers: 44-29
5. Memphis Grizzlies: 44-29
6. Los Angeles Clippers: 42-31

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7. Golden State Warriors: 42-31

8. Minnesota Timberwolves: 42-32

9. Sacramento Kings: 36-37

10. Dallas Mavericks: 36-38

11. Phoenix Suns: 35-39

12. Portland Trailblazers: 32-42

13. San Antonio Spurs: 31-41

The New Orleans Pelicans (20-54) and Utah Jazz (16-59) have been eliminated from postseason contention.

NBA playoff picture, bracket

The Bucks are in the sixth seed as of Saturday, March 29, and have fallen two spots in less than two weeks. Their arrow is trending down, while the Pacers’ and Pistons’ are trending up. Those are two teams that have passed the Bucks in the standings in the last 13 days.

Here are the current playoff matchups. The top three seeds in the East have remain unchanged for much of the season, while the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, easily cruised to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for a second straight year.

Eastern Conference

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. No. 8 play-in winner

(4) Indiana Pacers vs. (5) Detroit Pistons

(3) New York Knicks vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks

(2) Boston Celtics vs. No. 7 play-in winner

Western Conference

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 play-in winner

(4) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Memphis Grizzlies

(3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Los Angeles Clippers

(2) Houston Rockets vs. No. 7 play-in winner

When is the NBA play-in tournament?

Play-in tournament games begin Tuesday, April 15, and go through Friday, April 18. The team in the seventh spot at the end of the regular season plays the team with the eighth best record. The winner earns the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. Teams No. 9 and No. 10 play each other with the loser eliminated. The winner of that game plays the loser of the No. 7-8 game with the winner getting the No. 8 seed into the playoffs.

NBA playoff schedule: What date do the playoffs start?

After the play-in games are finalized, the NBA playoffs officially begin on Saturday, April 19, with some series getting underway on Sunday, April 20. All rounds are best-of-seven series.

Bucks tiebreakers

The Bucks have fallen behind the Pacers and Pistons in the Eastern Conference standings. But the Bucks have the tiebreaker over the Pacers thanks to winning three of the four games in the season series. However, they’re three games behind their Central Division rivals. And with just nine games remaining, it’s looking more unlikely that the tiebreaker will not even come into play.

The Pacers have won six of their last seven games heading into Saturday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s one of four games left for the Pacers against opponents with winning records. They play the Cleveland Cavaliers in two of their final three games. But the Cavs should have the No. 1-seed locked up by then and will likely be resting players.

The Bucks are 2-0 against the Pistons this season and conclude the regular season with two games in three days vs. Detroit. Those could be big in determining playoff seeds.

The Pistons have a much more challenging schedule down the stretch, but they’re playing great basketball of late as they continue their incredible franchise turnaround. Entering Friday’s game vs. the Cavs, seven of their final nine games are against teams with winning records. But the Pistons dominated the No. 1-seeded Cavs on Friday. Detroit, which is two games clear of the Bucks in the win column, heads out on a three-game road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thunder and Toronto Raptors.

Milwaukee Bucks schedule

The Bucks have nine games remaining on their schedule heading into Sunday’s contest against the Atlanta Hawks. It continues a three-game homestand before they head out for a three-game road trip. The Bucks’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans on April 6 is a rescheduled contest from January.

Here’s a look at the Bucks’ schedule for the rest of the season (all times are CT):

• Sunday, March 30: vs. Atlanta Hawks, 6 p.m., at Fiserv Forum
• Tuesday, April 1: vs. Phoenix Suns, 6:30 p.m., at Fiserv Forum
• Thursday, April 3: at Philadelphia 76ers, 6 p.m.
• Saturday, April 5: at Miami Heat, 7 p.m.
• Sunday, April 6: at New Orleans Pelicans, 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 8: vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 p.m., at Fiserv Forum
• Thursday, April 10: vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 7 p.m., at Fiserv Forum
• Friday, April 11: at Detroit Pistons, 6 p.m.
• Sunday, April 13: vs. Detroit Pistons, noon, at Fiserv Forum