NBA

NBA Playoff Race Update: The Raptors and Celtics Officially Punch Their Tickets

Russell Peddle  —  @rustypedalbike Mar 9th, 2018
The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors became the NBA's first two teams to officially clinch playoff berths. Who else do our models think will follow in their footsteps?

Every Friday from now until the end of the season, we're dropping a new edition of this column to update the NBA playoff picture.

We'll explore each team's playoff probability (based on our algorithm), divide each conference into different tiers of playoff hopefulness, and then discuss any movement among the teams from week to week.

The tiers are as follows:

Sure Things
These are teams with a playoff probability of 99% or more. These teams would need to have the meltdown of the century to miss out on the playoffs.

Bubble Teams
These are the teams that have a decent to very good chance of making the playoffs, but still need to earn their spot and hold off other teams to get there.

Dead or Dying
These teams will need a miracle to make the playoffs or have already been eliminated.

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