NBA Announces Finalists For Sportsmanship, Teammate Of The Year Awards
The NBA announced the 2025/26 finalists for a pair of awards on Tuesday, naming the six players who are eligible to win the Sportsmanship Award for this season, as well as the 12 players who are in the running to be named Teammate of the Year.
The Sportsmanship Award honors the player who “best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court,” per the NBA. Each of the league’s 30 teams nominates one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.
The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. This season’s finalists are as follows (via Twitter):
Bam Adebayo (Heat)- Harrison Barnes (Spurs)
- Al Horford (Warriors)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- T.J. McConnell (Pacers)
- Derrick White (Celtics)
Gilgeous-Alexander is the only one of this year’s finalists for the Sportsmanship Award who was also nominated last season. Whoever earns the honor for 2025/26 will be a first-time winner. Jrue Holiday took home the Joe Dumars Trophy a year ago.
Meanwhile, the NBA also announced its finalists for the Teammate of the Year award for 2025/26. According to the league, the player selected for the honor is “deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.”
The voting process is similar to the Sportsmanship Award — a panel of league executives selects 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, then current players vote on the winner.
Holiday is a three-time Teammate of the Year, having earned the honor in 2020, 2022, and 2023. He’s the only past recipient who is among this season’s group of finalists.
Those Teammate of the Year finalists are as follows (via Twitter):
- Desmond Bane (Magic)
- Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
- Pat Connaughton (Hornets)
- De’Aaron Fox (Spurs)
- Jeff Green (Rockets)
- Jrue Holiday (Trail Blazers)
- DeAndre Jordan (Pelicans)
- Duncan Robinson (Pistons)
- Marcus Smart (Lakers)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Garrett Temple (Raptors)
- Jaylin Williams (Thunder)
Southeast Notes: Heat, Alexander-Walker, Bridges, Magic
It was another ugly loss for the Heat on Sunday as their defense was shredded by the lottery-bound Pacers. Miami is 1-7 over its last eight games after giving up 135 points to Indiana.
“We’ve got to communicate more on the defensive end,” Bam Adebayo said, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “A lot of the first half was us not communicating so they get open threes. Things like that, we’ve got to clean up.”
Head coach Erik Spoelstra said the team is exasperated by its recent futility heading into Monday’s matchup with the Sixers.
“We’re disappointed, we’re upset, we’re angry,” Spoelstra said. “We need to use it as fuel and bring a great game [Monday].”
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker is making a strong push for Most Improved Player. An offseason free agent acquisition, Alexander-Walker has averaged 20.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He averaged 9.4 PPG in a more limited role for Minnesota last season. “I always figured that the better player I would be, the better it would be for the team,” Alexander-Walker told Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Like, if you can be a better player, ultimately, it’s going to be better for the team. So, I always try to align things that were going to be hand in hand, you know what I mean? And I would never sacrifice one for the other, and in this league, you can’t really, because I feel like it’s a league that rewards winning.”
- The Hornets woke up on Monday morning in 10th place in the East, though teams five through 10 in the standings are tightly bunched. Charlotte has lost two straight with seven games remaining on their schedule. “We don’t want to depend on teams,” forward Miles Bridges said to Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “We want to create our own path to the playoffs. And in order to do that, we’ve got to start winning games again.”
- Another team trying to fight its way out of the play-in tournament, Orlando, was embarrassed by the Raptors on Sunday. The Magic lost 139-87. The 52-point loss was the biggest margin of defeat in franchise history. Orlando also gave up a 31-0 run during one stretch of the blowout loss. “I’ve got to do a better job of preparing them for what they were going to see tonight,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said, per Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. “We talked a little bit about it, but probably not enough — I’ve got to have them prepared for the physicality of the game, prepared for how much they were going to grab, hold and get us off of our spots. That’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job there with this group to make sure they’re prepared in the right way, knowing exactly the sense of urgency that Toronto was going to play with … knowing the positioning that they were in for playoff positioning.”
Southeast Notes: Snyder, Hawks, Hornets, Wizards, Hardy
Quin Snyder became the 41st head coach in NBA history to record 500 victories as the Hawks won Saturday for the 15th time in 17 games, writes Maura Carey of The Associated Press. Atlanta is currently 42-33, the No. 6 seed in an extremely tight Eastern Conference playoff race.
“It was special,” Snyder said after the game. “When you’ve been in this league for a while, you realize that coaches, they keep your record, but it’s really the players and the other people that allow for that to happen. I’ve been really lucky to be able to coach some not just really good players, but just really quality people.”
As Carey notes, multiple Hawks players are having career years in 2025/26 under Synder, who holds a career record of 500-396 (.558) across 12 seasons with Utah and Atlanta.
Trade deadline acquisition Jock Landale, who recorded 19 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks as a fill-in starter in Saturday’s win over Sacramento, praised his new coach after the game.
“Quin’s incredible, honestly, and I don’t say that lightly. He’s been instrumental in just kind of getting me up to speed with exactly what’s going on,” Landale said. “He’s a great coach to play for, and I think that all 17 of us would say the exact same thing about him.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- The Hornets entered Saturday having won five straight games and 23 of their last 29. They led the 76ers by five points entering the fourth quarter in Saturday’s critical matchup for postseason positioning, but went 0-4 on twos and 5-of-18 on threes in the fourth quarter and their cold offensive spell trickled over to the other end, according to head coach Charles Lee. “In that fourth quarter especially, just our defensive focus started to wane a little bit as we were missing shots,” Lee said (story via Roderick Boone of The Charlotte Observer). “The guys did a good job the last few games of just not letting that be the case ever. Our shot-making can’t affect our defense and I thought I did a little bit. Too many guys just driving without that physicality piece. Too many back doors, too many offensive rebounds and clutch moments. Offensively, I thought that our pace started to slow down a little bit. And we were able to really put them in some compromising situations, created a lot of advantages when we played fast and played with great ball movement.”
- Hornets wing Kon Knueppel has been incredibly productive and efficient as a rookie this season. He has only missed one game in 2025/26, averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists on .485/.434/.864 shooting splits in 73 appearances (31.6 minutes per game). The Sixers had the third pick in last year’s draft and used it to take VJ Edgecombe, who has also been excellent as a rookie, one pick ahead of Knuppel. Head coach Nick Nurse praised the former Duke standout on Saturday, Boone writes in the same story. “Lots of people really liked him in the draft for sure, and he’s proved those people right and the people that didn’t, he’s proved those people wrong,” Nurse said. “For me, I just think he was a hooper, man. You just knew he was a competitor, and knew how to play and had lots of pieces to the game as well. He’s again one of those guys that he’ll rebound, he’ll block out, he’ll set screens — he knows how to play all parts of the game. And then, of course, he throws on that elite shooting skill … His elite skill is the shooting, and I think that’s what makes him so good, so valuable.” Knueppel pulled down 11 rebounds on Saturday but had his third-worst shooting game of the season (3-for-14 from the field).
- Forward Bilal Coulibaly had 21 points and six rebounds in the Wizards‘ close loss to Golden State on Friday but only played 19 minutes, including zero in the fourth quarter. Guard Bub Carrington (16 points and five assists in 26 minutes) also didn’t play in the fourth quarter, while second year-big man Alex Sarr was allowed to foul out of the game in the third quarter. Head coach Brian Keefe was asked about those decisions after the game, according to Nate Duncan (Twitter link), and said all three players had hit their minutes limits. As for not playing in the fourth quarter, Keefe said the team was prioritizing its players’ health and that the Wizards didn’t want to disrupt their rotations.
- Jaden Hardy has been on fire from three-point range since the Wizards acquired him from Dallas in last month’s Anthony Davis trade, per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network. The 23-year-old guard is averaging 13.3 PPG while shooting 43.9% from long distance in 18 games with Washington (20.4 MPG). “There’s a bunch of players out there who haven’t gotten their opportunity, but they have game. If you get the opportunity, you have to just try to take full advantage of it and that’s what I’m trying to do… I feel like it’s a great opportunity for me over here. It’s a young team, so I feel like I fit in,” Hardy said.
Heat Notes: Defense, Starting Lineup, Powell, Ware, Draft Pick
After watching the Heat surrender 149 points in Friday’s loss at Cleveland, coach Erik Spoelstra is having doubts about his defense as the postseason draws near, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald writes in a subscriber-only piece. Two nights after posting a 17-point win in the same arena, Miami was helpless to slow down a Cavaliers team that shot 53.6% from the field and 46.3% from beyond the arc.
“What we needed to have was a great disposition to start the game versus a team that was very motivated and on top of their game,” Spoelstra said. “So maybe they get off to a good start, but your defense can weather the storm and it ends up being a six to eight-point lead instead of a 20-plus point lead.”
The exact opposite happened as Cleveland registered 40 points in the first quarter and 41 in the second, building a 35-point lead by halftime. Chiang notes that the Heat had one of the league’s elite defenses for most of the season, but have collapsed recently, ranking among the bottom four during their 1-6 stretch.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Spoelstra added. “We’ve put in the time. The guys have put in blood, sweat and tears to develop a top-four defense two weeks ago. And when we need it the most is when we’ve let it disappear.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- Spoelstra used his preferred starting five of Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo for the second straight game, but the unit didn’t function nearly as well as it did on Wednesday, Chiang adds in the same story. They trailed 21-10 when Spoelstra made his first substitution and were outscored by six points in their 14 minutes together. “We need to just keep figuring it out,” Adebayo said. “Everybody keep buying in and we’ll see where it gets us.”
- Powell is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Indiana due to back spasms, Chiang tweets.
- The Heat are virtually certain to pursue a significant move this summer, Chiang states in a mailbag column. Giannis Antetokounmpo looms as an obvious target after Miami tried to land him at the trade deadline, and Chiang notes that the team needs its potential trade chips to finish the season strong to preserve their value. He points to backup center Kel’el Ware, who is viewed as the team’s top asset but has been inconsistent during his second NBA season with Spoelstra repeatedly singling him out in public comments.
- The decision to grant the Heat a 2026 second-round pick from Charlotte as compensation in the Terry Rozier dispute no longer seems as equitable in light of the NBA’s new anti-tanking proposals, contends Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel (subscription required). Winderman points out that the 2027 or 2028 first-rounder that was sent to the Hornets in exchange for Rozier has a chance to become much more valuable if the new rules are adopted.
Knicks Notes: McBride, Robinson, Towns, Hornets, Anunoby
The Knicks could get a key reserve back from injury on Sunday, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who reports (via Twitter) that Miles McBride hasn’t been ruled out of tomorrow’s game at Oklahoma City. If the fifth-year guard doesn’t play Sunday, he’s on track to return to action either on Tuesday at Houston or Wednesday at Memphis, Begley adds.
McBride has been sidelined since late January following surgery to repair a core muscle injury, also known as a sports hernia. He went through Saturday’s practice, tweets Jared Schwartz of The New York Post, and will be listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Thunder, per Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link).
We have more on the Knicks:
- Head coach Mike Brown benched Karl-Anthony Towns in favor of Mitchell Robinson for the final eight minutes of Thursday’s loss to Charlotte, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The Knicks were hammered on the glass, having lost the rebounding battle 43-24, which was “part” of the reason Brown turned to Robinson, who was plus-eight in 26 minutes (Towns was minus-18 in 22 minutes). “I just thought when we had Mitch in there with certain guys, we were able to match their physicality,” Brown said. “And we made a run. But we were down 20 at that time. And versus a good team on the road, that’s tough to do.” Towns was also on the bench down the stretch of Tuesday’s win over New Orleans as New York went with a small-ball lineup, Bondy notes.
- The Hornets could be the most difficult first-round opponent for the Knicks if they finish as the No. 6 seed and New York stays at No. 3, Bondy writes in a subscriber-only story. According to Bondy, the Knicks were “overwhelmed by Charlotte’s speed and athleticism” on Thursday. “That’s their style,” Brown said. “They play fast. They want to let that thing fly. They got shooters that’ll let it fly. Josh (Hart) did a great job. Josh was up into the ball. He was physical with his man without fouling. He showed his hands when he needed to, and everybody that he guarded, they felt him. I can’t say it was like that all the way across the board and we have to do a better job of that if we expect to beat a good team like this on the road.”
- OG Anunoby is the best defender on Knicks team that has the fifth-best defensive rating in the NBA, according to Bondy (subscription required), who believes the 28-year-old forward should be named to the All-Defensive first team for his performance on that end of the court in 2025/26. “He guarded a lot of different players,” Brown said after Tuesday’s win. “And to close the way he did against Zion (Williamson) — Zion is a monster, he’s a handful for anybody, so for OG to do what he did down the stretch with him was huge.”
Southeast Notes: Heat, Larsson, Knueppel, White, Vukcevic
Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Heat made a starting lineup change on Wednesday in Cleveland, bringing forward Pelle Larsson off the bench for the first time since January 13. The early returns on the adjustment were positive, as Miami snapped its losing streak with a 120-103 road victory over the Cavaliers.
As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald relays, head coach Erik Spoelstra suggested the new starting five – Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo – is his preferred group when everyone’s healthy, which often hasn’t been the case this season.
“There really wasn’t a lot of thought to it. It’s just now we have finally everybody available,” Spoelstra said. “So we’re able to get to the normal plan. Sometimes you can’t necessarily get to what you want to do based on injuries.”
Although Larsson was moved to the second unit, he still played just over 34 minutes in Wednesday’s win, which was easily his highest mark in a reserve role this season. After the game, Spoelstra praised Larsson for the energy he brought off the bench and made it clear the second-year forward will continue to be featured prominently even if he’s not starting.
“Pelle is undeniable, you can’t take him off the floor,” Spoelstra said. “So I didn’t think anything of (the role change), he didn’t think anything of it that we made the change. Because I know, and I know that he knows that I know that he’s going to play. He led us in minutes tonight. … I just love the way he competes, how he impacts the game, and his teammates really appreciate him as well.”
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Hornets wing Kon Knueppel is battling through some back soreness, but he nearly had the first triple-double of his NBA career in a win over New York on Thursday. Knueppel had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, and became the youngest player in league history to make at least 250 three-pointers in a single season, notes Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “I think sometimes he gets labeled as just a shooter, but we feel his impact in so many different ways,” head coach Charles Lee said of the rookie standout.
- Speaking to Boone for a separate Charlotte Observer story, new Hornets guard Coby White suggests the three weeks he spent recovering from a calf strain following his trade from Chicago to Charlotte last month allowed him to adjust to his new NBA home without getting thrown into the deep end right away. “I think what helped me was just – when I was out – picking up a lot of stuff, learning stuff, and then so I didn’t really have to learn it on the fly,” White said. “So it’s been good for me, just breaking down the film when I was out. It’s going to take time, but I feel like I’m getting accustomed to it for sure.” White has averaged 16.0 points in just 20.0 minutes per game in his first 13 outings for the Hornets.
- When he was promoted from his two-way contract to the standard roster last month, Wizards center Tristan Vukcevic signed a three-year, $8.86MM contract that is fully guaranteed through the 2026/27 season. The next step for the young big man will be proving he deserves a place in Washington’s long-term plans, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I’m obviously happy for my deal, but it doesn’t stop here,” Vukcevic said. “I’m still (only 23), I have a whole career in front of me. I think the contract is more motivation for me to work harder this summer and just get better. I don’t think I’m perfect. Everybody says I’m a shooter, but I have a lot of work there. This year, I haven’t shot the ball the way I’m supposed to.”
And-Ones: Holmes, Expansion, Project B, More
Panathinaikos has parted ways with former NBA big man Richaun Holmes, the Greek EuroLeague team announced on Tuesday (Twitter link).
After playing in the NBA for 10 seasons from 2015-25, Holmes signed with Panathinaikos last August, agreeing to a one-year deal that included a team option for a second season. The deal reportedly made him one of the highest-paid players in Europe.
Although Holmes got off to a good start in the EuroLeague, he sustained an MCL injury in the midst of his integration period with his new team, notes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops, and he saw his minutes decline after he returned to action. The 32-year-old averaged 7.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per game across 19 EuroLeague appearances.
Holmes played in 489 regular season games during his decade in the NBA, but was forced to accept a lesser role as he bounced around the league in his last few years after being Sacramento’s primary starting center from 2019-22.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Expanding to 32 teams and establishing a European league could net NBA owners $20 billion or more, according to Kurt Badenhausen and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, who conservatively estimate $15 billion in expansion fees for new franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle and another $5 billion in fees for NBA Europe teams. As Badenhausen and Novy-Williams point out, expansion money isn’t shared with players, since it falls outside of basketball-related income, which means each team owner is likely looking at $650MM or more if the NBA expands both domestically and into Europe.
- Joe Vardon and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic provide the latest details on the emerging global basketball league known as Project B, which is working with European super-agent Misko Raznatovic and counts LeBron James‘ longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter as an adviser. Project B has reached deals with several women’s basketball players and is looking to establish a foothold in men’s basketball as well, per Vardon and Vorkunov, who say the league will aim to bring in current and former NBA players, as well as top young prospects from outside the NBA for its developmental program.
- ESPN’s Zach Kram ranks the NBA’s best and worst 10 transactions since last summer. The Hornets‘ selection of Kon Knueppel at No. 4 in the draft tops Kram’s list of the best moves, while the Bucks waiving and stretching Damian Lillard in order to sign Myles Turner headlines his list of the worst moves.
Luka Doncic, LaMelo Ball Named Players Of The Week
Lakers guard Luka Doncic has been named the Player of the Week for the Western Conference, while Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has won the award in the East, the NBA announced today in a press release.
It’s the second straight week Doncic has claimed the award. The 27-year-old had a spectacular showing from March 16-22, helping guide Los Angeles to a 4-0 road record by averaging 42.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 3.0 steals on .500/.390/.723 shooting in 38.5 minutes per contest.
The highlight of Doncic’s week came on Thursday in Miami, when he poured in a season-high 60 points. The Slovenian superstar has now won Player of the Week four times in 2025/26, moving past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has three.
Ball helped lead Charlotte to a 3-0 record last week, averaging 26.3 PPG, 7.3 APG, 5.0 RPG and 2.3 SPG on .500/.412/.846 shooting in just 27.3 MPG. This is the first time the former All-Star point guard has claimed the weekly award in 2025/26 (and in his career).
According to the league (Twitter link), the other nominees in the West were Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, Ayo Dosunmu, Rudy Gobert, Gilgeous-Alexander, Amen Thompson and Victor Wembanyama. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Duren, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Karl-Anthony Towns were nominated in the East.
Southeast Notes: Johnson, Kuminga, Bitadze, Ball
Jalen Johnson missed the Hawks‘ win over the Warriors on Saturday with a shoulder injury, but head coach Quin Snyder is hopeful the star forward be back in time for Monday’s game against the Grizzlies, per Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks (Twitter link). Snyder didn’t elaborate on Johnson’s injury, simply stating, “He’s okay.”
A first-time All-Star this season, Johnson has played 63 of Atlanta’s 71 games this season, averaging 22.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per night while ranking second in the league in triple-doubles.
The Hawks are currently tied with the Sixers for sixth place in the East, having won nine of their last 10 games.
We have more from the Southeast Division:
- Jonathan Kuminga‘s first game with the Hawks against his former team didn’t end up being can’t-miss television, as he scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting in Atlanta’s win over Golden State. Despite their very public split, both Kuminga and his former team maintain that their personal relationship is still positive, according to Nick Friedell of The Athletic. “I like Jonathan. We always got along well,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The basketball part was the hard part. We couldn’t quite offer him what he needed and vice versa.” Kuminga focused on his teammates in discussing his former team, stating, “I’ve still got great friendship and connection like they’re my brothers. I could call them at any time if they need something and they could call me anytime if they need something, so I think that shows a lot. Our relationship is very strong and we’re brothers at the end of the day.”
- Goga Bitadze refuted Luka Doncic‘s account of the interaction that took place during the Magic‘s one-point loss to the Lakers that led to both players being given technical fouls, which were subsequently rescinded. Doncic claimed that Bitadze made a comment about his mother. “Where I come from, it’s really sacred and we really respect each other’s families, and I would never directly say that,” Bitadze said. “He just said some inappropriate things in the Serbian language, which, I played in Serbia, I understand.” The Georgian big man also extended an olive branch to the Slovenian superstar. “It was just in the heat of the moment. I heard what he said, and I felt like I had to respond the same way,” he said. So, from my side, if he feels like I said something too much or crossed the line, I apologize as a man. I can take [accountability], but I didn’t say anything, but what he said.”
- LaMelo Ball has led the Hornets to a 37-34 record, including 21 wins in their past 27 games. Head coach Charles Lee credits Ball’s infectious energy and approach as a tone-setter for the team, according to Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “There’s just so much joy that he brings. His teammates love him. They love being around him,” Lee said. “He is one of those guys that’s so open-minded to being coached. He’s still hungry to learn.” Teammate Brandon Miller credited Ball’s defensive focus, which Miller believes has been underrated this season, as another example of the point guard’s adaptability and growth as a player.
Community Shootaround: Final Four Eastern Playoff Spots
With three weeks remaining in the 2025/26 regular season, only three games separate the No. 5 Raptors (39-30) from the No. 10 Hornets (37-34). The Hawks (39-32), Sixers (39-32), Magic (38-32) and Heat (38-33), in order of their seeds, are currently in between those two clubs in the Eastern Conference standings.
Those six teams are vying for the fifth and sixth seeds in the East to secure guaranteed playoff berths. The four clubs that end up in the Nos. 7-10 spots would have to advance through the play-in tournament to make the playoffs.
While it’s obviously not as advantageous as making the playoffs outright, the No. 7 seed does get a significant leg up in the play-in tournament, as that team plays at home and has two chances to advance. The No. 8 team also gets two cracks at a playoff spot, whereas the ninth and 10th clubs have to win two consecutive games to move on.
Barring an unexpected collapse (and a major surge up the standings from one of the aforementioned teams), Detroit, Boston, New York and Cleveland are likely going to be the top four seeds in the East, in some order. The No. 4 Cavs (44-27) are four games ahead of the Raptors right now, and the No. 1 Pistons (51-19) have essentially locked up a top-four spot.
No. 11 Milwaukee and No. 12 Chicago haven’t been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention quite yet, but they will almost certainly soon join Indiana, Washington and Brooklyn as Eastern teams formally ruled out of the playoff picture.
Toronto controls its own destiny. The Raptors not only have the most remaining games (13) and fewest losses of the six teams vying for the fifth and sixth spots, they also have the easiest remaining schedule by opponent winning percentage (.476), according to Tankathon.
The No. 6 Hawks went 4-0 against the No. 7 Sixers this season, which is why they’re ahead of them in the standings despite having identical records. Atlanta, which has won 12 of its past 13 games, has a slightly more difficult (.534 opponent winning percentage) schedule than Philadelphia (.527) over the final 11 games of the season.
The Magic and Heat have been inconsistent in 2025/26. Both teams recently won seven consecutive games and are now in the midst of four-game losing streaks. Orlando theoretically has an easier schedule (.485) than Miami (.505) to wrap up the regular season.
The Hornets have been one of the best teams in the NBA for several weeks, but they got off to such a poor start that they’re still trying to dig out of that hole. After a January 21 loss to Cleveland, Charlotte was 16-28; the team has gone 21-6 ever since. The Hornets have three easy games left, but also have eight matchups with teams ahead of them in the standings (.525 opponent winning percentage).
We want to know what you think. Which teams will end up as the fifth and sixth seeds in the East? Which of the four remaining clubs will advance through the play-in tournaments in the seventh and eight spots? Head to the comments section to weigh in with your thoughts!