The Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans left Sunday as the biggest winners in the NBA play-in races. Indiana picked up a home win over the Miami Heat to create a small bit of distance in the competition for the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers do not have time to rest because the Philadelphia 76ers are one game back and play the rest of their regular-season games at home. New Orleans moved level on record with the Phoenix Suns through a road win that ended a four-game losing run. Phoenix is still ahead of the Pelicans for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference because of the head-to-head tiebreaker, but the Pelicans at least put themselves in a position to move out of the play-in spots in the next week. Updated NBA Standings Eastern Conference 1. Boston (62-16) 2. Milwaukee (47-31) 3. Orlando (46-32) 4.
New York (46-32) 5. Cleveland (46-33) 6. Indiana (45-34) Play-In Race 7. Philadelphia (44-35) 8. Miami (43-35) 9.
Chicago (37-41) 10. Atlanta (36-42) Indiana's win over Miami kept it above of the play-in positions for now. The Pacers hold a one-game edge on the Sixers with three contests remaining for each team. Indiana visits the
Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers and hosts the Atlanta Hawks, while the Sixers play host to the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets. A full-strength Sixers squad with Joel Embiid likely wins all three of its remaining games. Indiana needs to avoid a slip-up on the road in Cleveland to avoid a pressure-packed finale. The Pacers won two of their three games against the Sixers, so they just need to finish on an even record to avoid the play-in. Philadelphia is playing to host any play-in games by way of the No. 7 seed, and if Indiana slips up, it could pounce to gain the No, 6 seed. The Heat can still slip into the No. 7 spot as well, because they have a game in hand over the Sixers. Miami needs to beat the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks in its next two games so that it can sweep the Raptors to close out the regular season. A four-game winning streak might be enough to at least put Miami into the No. 7 spot. Indiana, Philadelphia and Miami should all get into the proper playoff field, but no one wants to win the second play-in game, land the No. 8 seed and face the Boston Celtics in the first round. Play-In Prediction: 7. Philadelphia, 8. Miami, 9. Chicago, 10. Atlanta Western Conference 1. Minnesota (54-24) 2. Denver (54-24) 3. Oklahoma City (53-25) 4.
Los Angeles Clippers (50-28) 5. Dallas (48-30) 6. Phoenix (46-32) Play-In Race 7. New Orleans (46-32) 8. Sacramento (45-33) 9.
Los Angeles Lakers (45-34) 10. Golden State (43-35) New Orleans ended its losing run with a road win in Phoenix, but that result was not enough to push it into the top six. The Pelicans lost the season series to the Suns, so as long as they are tied, the Suns hold the advantage in the standings. New Orleans finishes with a gauntlet of three games after its Tuesday trip to Portland. The Pelicans visit the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors before they close at home against the Lakers. The wins over the Kings and Lakers are most important for the Pelicans since they are three games ahead of the Warriors. The Lakers dropped ground in the play-in race with a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles played the full game without
LeBron James and Anthony Davis exited with an eye injury. The Lakers and Warriors face off on Tuesday in a critical game for the No. 9-versus-No. 10 matchup. Golden State has room to move up from 10th, but it needs a perfect finish to land a home game in the 9-10 game. No team currently in the West play-in spots will miss out on the play-in round. The Houston Rockets were eliminated from from contention with their loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Play-In Prediction: 7. New Orleans, 8. Sacramento, 9. Los Angeles Lakers, 10. Golden State