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I'm guessing the Celtics will be first...It's getting to be that time of year though

it'll be soon in the East for the C's and Pistons, considering how many games those bottom-feeding East teams lose..

Courageous guess right there.

West probably won't start clinching till about 2 weeks before playoffs if not later.

I believe the Celtics Magic # is 2

Boston can clinch a playoff spot today with a win or a Hawks, Pacers, or Nets loss.

in the east, mid December...

Boston will clench officially before the end of the week, and Detroit will clench soon after. As for the West, unless Denver completely falls off it could be another couple weeks before anyone clenches.

Boston and Detroit will be first to clinch playoffs spots.
Boston and Orlando will be first to clinch their divisions

LOL how no western team will be able to clinch a play spot til there are around 6 games left in the season.

The Celtics could lose every game and the Heat win every game from now until the end of the season, and the Celtics would still have the better record. Same goes for New York.
In fact, if the 8th seed New Jersey nets won every game from now on, winning 48 total (p.s. pathetic), Boston would only need to win three more games for the rest of the season to best them.

Does that mean that Boston, in the next week, will clinch? Mathematically? That even the 8th seed couldn't possibly catch them?

GJense4181 wrote:The Celtics could lose every game and the Heat win every game from now until the end of the season, and the Celtics would still have the better record. Same goes for New York.
In fact, if the 8th seed New Jersey nets won every game from now on, winning 48 total (p.s. pathetic), Boston would only need to win three more games for the rest of the season to best them.

Does that mean that Boston, in the next week, will clinch? Mathematically? That even the 8th seed couldn't possibly catch them?

means that Celtics are guaranteed 100% to participate in the post season festivities. Seeds aren't clinching yet.

Boston will finish 46-36 if they lose every single game.

I don't know how to calculate the magic number but looking at the Atlanta Hawks who are 24-34 (24 games left) would finish with 48 wins (48-34) if they were to win every single game, which means they could still eliminate the Celtics if the Celtics lose every single game. Boston holds the tiebreaker over Atlanta.

Chicago and Indiana both will finish 46-36 if they win every single game, but Boston has a tiebreaker over Indiana but not Chicago. Means that Chicago can still eliminate Boston.

Milwaukee has no chance of eliminating Boston.

For Boston to clinch a playoff spot, the following must happen:
(1) Boston wins 2
(2) Atlanta loses 2
(3) Atlanta loses 1, Boston wins 1

for Detroit to clinch a spot, the following must happen:
(1) Detroit wins 4
(2) Atlanta loses 4
(3).. Endless amount of combinations of Det wins and Atl Losses that just made me dizzy (that add up to 4)