NBA playoff update: Cavaliers, Sixers in dead heat for No. 3 seed

Uh oh: the Cavaliers lost a game. That puts the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture into a weird place. Cleveland lost to Miami, dropping LeBron’s bunch to 30 losses on the season. The 76ers, who were idle, also have 30 losses.

Philadelphia has an upcoming schedule softer than a down pillow in zero gravity. While Cleveland has a tiebreak advantage over Philly — 2-1 in the season series with one left, plus a likely Central Division banner — the Sixers can bet on at least one more Cavs’ loss. Hell, Philly can give it to them on April 6.

If the Sixers do end up passing the Cavs, we have a potential second-round series between Cleveland and Toronto. Yikes for both parties.

The Wizards and Pacers both won on Tuesday (beating the Spurs and Warriors respectively). Indiana has 31 losses now and Washington has 33. The Pacers are still in play to win the Central and pass the Cavs, but their schedule is pretty tough.

The Bucks lost and Heat won, putting Miami ahead due to the head-to-head tiebreaker despite both teams having 35 losses. Winning No. 7 means playing the broken Celtics instead of the Raptors. It’s a big deal.

Here’s the East playoff bracket right now.

Raptors (1) vs. Bucks (8)
Sixers (4) vs. Pacers (5)
Cavaliers (3) vs. Wizards (6)
Celtics (2) vs. Heat (7)

The Blazers had a crucial pair of games to open the week: Thunder on Sunday, Pelicans on Tuesday. Portland won them both and looks much more solid in the No. 3 spot in the West, with a three-game lead in the loss column over the pack.

New Orleans’ loss could have dropped the Pels a spot in the bracket, but the Spurs also lost. As such, New Orleans and San Antonio fell a game behind inactive OKC in the loss column, and are now tied with the Jazz (32 losses).

The Jazz have the tiebreaker over both New Orleans and San Antonio if it comes down to it. The Pels and Spurs have one more battle to decide their tiebreak, though New Orleans can do no worse than a tie. Truly, Utah is likely the most feared team in that group.

Meanwhile, the Clippers won — that team will just not go away — and the Nuggets lost. LA is one game behind Minnesota in the loss column for No. 8 and Denver is two games out. The Nuggets still do have two games against Minnesota remaining, but they may not be enough if the Clippers keep this up.

Here’s the West bracket.

Rockets (1) vs. Timberwolves (8)
Thunder (4) vs. Pelicans (5)
Blazers (3) vs. Spurs (6)
Warriors (2) vs. Jazz (7)

Cleveland and Philadelphia are both in action Wednesday against non-playoff teams. The other East teams with something at play are off. Portland, Minnesota, Utah, and the Clippers have games — only the Jazz’s contest is against a team not tanking (Boston).