The 2025-26 NBA regular season is down to its final week, and the Western race is still not fully settled. Oklahoma City leads San Antonio by three games with four games to play, but the Spurs hold the season-series tiebreaker, keeping the Thunder from breathing easily.
Oklahoma City’s next three games are on the road, a stretch that gives San Antonio a window if it keeps winning. The Spurs are 27-3 since the start of February, and the Thunder have already clinched the division for the third season in a row, proof of how far ahead they have been even as the gap at the top remains open.
The West, though, is mostly spoken for. Five teams have guaranteed their spots in the playoffs, leaving the last few days to sort out seeding and the margins between contention and comfort. That is what makes the final week matter now: the standings are no longer about who belongs, but about who can still improve their position before the games run out.
Read Also: Yoshinobu Yamamoto Seeks Fourth Win in Toronto Dodgers Vs Blue Jays
The East is even messier. Four teams have clinched a playoff berth, the Detroit Pistons will finish with the top seed, and the Boston Celtics are likely to come in second. The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers are likely to decide third and fourth place in the closing days, while the Atlanta Hawks are the likely fifth-place finisher right now.
Atlanta’s immediate test is straightforward and difficult. The Hawks host the Knicks on Monday, then play a home-and-home with Cleveland on Wednesday and Friday. Those games could shape both the middle of the East bracket and the race for the sixth and final spot, where the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors are tied with four games to go.
Read Also: Blue Jays Sign Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer Remains in Rotation
There is also a team that has spent the spring making the standings look less predictable than they once did. The Charlotte Hornets have beaten Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Boston since January, even after starting 16-28, a surge that has been helped by LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller being healthy. Kon Knueppel has also emerged as a Rookie of the Year favorite, adding another reason the final stretch has not followed the expected script.
That is the real shape of the league right now: one conference where the top is largely fixed and the bottom is still shifting, and another where even the final playoff line remains unresolved. By the end of the week, several teams will know exactly where they stand. For others, the next few nights will decide whether the season keeps going or ends with the schedule.
