Updated March 23, 2026, 10:22 p.m. ET
What is the Detroit Pistons magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs?
Let’s dive into the scenarios and the standings after the Pistons’ victory over the LA Lakers on Monday, March 23, with the Boston Celtics in second place and idle Monday.
The Pistons will have to get it done without Cade Cunningham, who is out for an extended period with a collapsed lung suffered Tuesday. His future is in doubt with the NBA playoffs starting April 18.
So, what is the Pistons’ “magic number” to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the East playoffs for first time since 2007? Let’s take a look at the entire playoff picture for the Pistons and the East, the Pistons schedule vs. the Celtics schedule, potential Pistons playoff matchups in the first round and much more.
Pistons magic number to clinch No. 1 seed
Through Monday night’s games: The Pistons’ magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed over the Boston Celtics is 6. That number is 5 over the third-place New York Knicks.
Here’s how to calculate a team’s magic number.
83 – (first-place team’s win total + second-place team’s loss total) = magic number.
[ Cade Cunningham has collapsed lung; a doctor explains what that means ]
Pistons Celtics tiebreaker
The Pistons won the head-to-head season series over Boston, 3-1, with all games coming before February (Jayson Tatum returned in March):
- Oct. 26: Pistons 119-113 in Detroit.
- Nov. 26: Celtics 117-114 in Boston.
- Dec. 15: Pistons 112-105 in Boston.
- Jan. 19: Pistons 104-103 in Detroit.
Pistons playoff odds
The Pistons clinched a playoff berth Friday with their win over Golden State. They are guaranteed a top-4 seed in the East playoffs, clinching homecourt in the first round with their victory over the LA Lakers on Monday night
The Pistons are 99% to get the No. 1 seed, per playoffstatus.com, though whether that factors in Cunningham missing games is unclear.
NBA standings, Eastern Conference playoff race
Eastern Conference playoff standings through Monday’s first wave of games:
- Pistons: 52-19, −
- Celtics: 47-24, 5 GB
- Knicks: 47-25, 5½ GB
- Cavaliers: 44-27, 8 GB
- Raptors: 39-31, 12½ GB
- Hawks: 40-32, 12½ GB
- *76ers: 39-33, 13½ GB
- *Magic: 38-33, 14 GB
- *Heat: 38-34, 14½ GB
- *Hornets: 37-34, 15 GB
*Teams seeded Nos. 7-10 participate in the NBA Play-In Tournament. The Nos. 7-8 seeds get two chances to win one game to secure a playoff berth, while the Nos. 9-10 seeds must win two games to get the final playoff spot.
Here’s how the Play-In Tournament works:
- Game 1: The No. 7 seed hosts the No. 8 seed, with the winner earning the 7-seed in the playoffs and a matchup with the 2-seed in the first round.
- Game 2: The No. 9 seed hosts the No. 10 seed. The loser is eliminated.
- Game 3: The winner of the 9-10 game plays at the loser of the 7-8 game. The loser of this game is eliminated, while the winner earns the 8-seed and a first-round matchup against the 1-seed.
Pistons first-round playoff opponent scenarios
The Pistons, if they earn the 1-seed, would play the winner of Game 3 in the Play-In Tournament. There are six teams which could be the Pistons’ first-round matchup, each included below with their top four point-per-game scorers.
- Charlotte’s top scorers: Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Miles Bridges.
- Miami’s top scorers: Norman Powell, Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins.
- Orlando’s top scorers: Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, Anthony Black.
- Philadelphia’s top scorers: Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Paul George, VJ Edgecombe.
- Atlanta’s top scorers: Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum, Onyeka Okongwu.
- Toronto’s top scorers: Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley.
[ Jeff Daniels and Peyton Manning tried to lift Lions curse. They hexed all our teams instead ]
Pistons schedule
The Pistons’ strength of schedule remaining entering Monday was 10th toughest in the NBA, according to tankathon.com, which uses combined winning percentage for all remaining opponents. The Pistons’ opponent win percentage was .529.
Here are the Pistons’ final 11 games of the regular season:
- Wednesday, March 25: vs. Hawks
- Thursday, March 26: vs. Pelicans
- Saturday, March 28: at Timberwolves
- Monday, March 30: at Thunder
- Tuesday, March 31: vs. Raptors
- Thursday, April 2: vs. Timberwolves
- Saturday, April 4: at 76ers
- Monday, April 6: at Magic
- Wednesday, April 8: vs. Bucks
- Friday, April 10: at Hornets
- Sunday, April 12: at Pacers
Celtics schedule
The Celtics’ strength of schedule is No. 3 most difficult, according to Tankathon, at .544.
Here are Boston’s final 11 games of the regular season:
- Wednesday, March 25: vs. Thunder
- Friday, March 27: vs. Hawks
- Sunday, March 29: at Hornets
- Monday, March 30: at Hawks
- Wednesday, April 1: at Heat
- Friday, April 3: at Bucks
- Sunday, April 5: vs. Raptors
- Tuesday, April 7: vs. Hornets
- Thursday, April 9: at Knicks
- Friday, April 10: vs. Pelicans
- Sunday, April 12: vs. Magic
NBA playoffs schedule 2026, bracket
Here’s the schedule for the start of the 2026 NBA playoffs. There is no re-seeding in the NBA playoffs, meaning the 1-8 winner will face the 4-5 winner in the conference semifinals, and the 2-7 winner will face the 3-6 winner. Every round is a 2-2-1-1-1 best-of-seven series format.
In the NBA Finals, the team with the better regular-season record gets homecourt advantage. Oklahoma City (57-15) and San Antonio (54-18) have the two-best records in the league. The Pistons are third.
- April 13: Rosters set for playoffs (3 p.m. ET).
- April 14-17: NBA Play-In Tournament.
- April 18: NBA playoffs begin.
- June 3: NBA Finals Game 1.
- June 19: NBA Finals Game 7 (if necessary).
Want more Pistons updates? Download our free app for the latest news, alerts, eNewspaper and more. Follow our coverage all year long: freep.com/sports/pistons
[ MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live on YouTube. ]