Payton Pritchard, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown
Celtics playoff standings: Updated scenarios, schedule for Boston in 2026 NBA bracket originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Celtics are heading back to the postseason.
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Even without star Jayson Tatum for the majority of the regular season, Boston has clinched a playoff berth for the 12th season in a row. The Celtics will be one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference thanks in part to how well they played this year, but also to how much the rest of the playoff teams in the conference have struggled.
With the regular season winding down, Boston is locked in to either the No. 2 or the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. This means that the Celtics will play either the No. 7 or No. 6 seed in the first round. While not much movement can happen for Boston, the Celtics’ seed could be important when it comes to later rounds of the playoffs and home-court advantage.
Here is an updated look at the Celtics’ playoff scenarios and standings.
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Celtics playoff scenarios 2026
The Celtics have already locked in a playoff berth. Boston will either be the No. 2 seed or the No. 3 seed for the Eastern Conference for the 2026 playoff bracket.
If the Celtics win out and the Detroit Pistons lose out, they would have the same record, but the Pistons own the tiebreaker, taking the season series 3-1. If the Celtics were to lose out and the Cleveland Cavaliers won out, they would then have the same record, but Boston is expected to have that tiebreaker.
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Celtics standings 2026
Here is a look at where the Celtics stand in the Eastern Conference.
|
Seed |
Team |
Wins |
Losses |
Games Back |
|
1 |
Pistons |
57 |
22 |
— |
|
2 |
Celtics |
54 |
25 |
3 |
|
3 |
Knicks |
51 |
28 |
6 |
|
4 |
Cavaliers |
50 |
29 |
7 |
|
5 |
Hawks |
45 |
34 |
12 |
|
6 |
Raptors |
44 |
35 |
13 |
|
7 |
76ers |
43 |
36 |
14 |
|
8 |
Magic |
43 |
36 |
14 |
|
9 |
Hornets |
43 |
37 |
14.5 |
|
10 |
Heat |
41 |
38 |
16.0 |
Celtics remaining schedule
Here is how the Celtics will end the regular season.
-
Thursday, April 9 at Knicks
-
Friday, April 10 vs. Pelicans
-
Sunday, April 12 vs. Magic
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Celtics potential playoff opponents
Boston is locked into either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed for the Eastern Conference. This means the Celtics will play either the No. 6 or No. 7 seeds in the first round. There is a lot of movement that could still happen in the conference as the season winds down.
Currently, the Celtics could play either the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic or Miami Heat.
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The variation comes from the number of teams that could qualify for and emerge from the play-in tournament, which will be used to determine the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds.