by Down by eight with less than two minutes to play, the Golden State Warriors mounted a comeback for a huge win over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak and move back over the play-in line in the race of the Western Conference playoffs.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the Western Conference playoff situation and play-in games entering play on Sunday.
A reminder of how the play-in tournament works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed.
READING: Picture of the Eastern Conference playoffs
NOTE: Our SportsLine model, developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and accurate projections imaginable.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Nuggets have lost two straight, but they’d have to be absolutely tanking to throw off the No. 1 seed. With 15 games to play, they lead the No. 2 Kings by five games in the losing column and hold an effective six-game lead over the No. 3 Grizzlies with the tiebreaker secured.
- Predicted Seed: 1
- Current First Round Match: TBD
- Tiebreaker vs. Memphis: Denver is tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Sacramento: Season series tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Denver leads the season series 2-0 with two to play
2. Sacramento Kings (40-26)
Sacramento, which has won 10 of its last 13 after beating Phoenix on Saturday, holds the No. 2 seed by virtue of currently holding the tiebreaker over Memphis. The Kings now have a four-game lead over the No. 4 Suns with one game remaining.
- Predicted Seed: 3
- Current First Round Match: vs. Timberwolves-Mavericks play-in winner
- Tiebreaker vs. Denver: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Memphis: The Kings currently hold a conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
3. Memphis Grizzlies (40-26)
Memphis remains tied with the No. 2 Kings and moves into the four-game losing streak at the No. 4 Suns.
- Predicted Seed: 2
- Current First Round Match: against Warriors
- Tiebreaker vs. Denver: The nuggets are tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Sacramento: The Kings currently own the conference record
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Grizzlies own via division leader
4. Phoenix Suns (37-30)
The Suns fell four games behind No. 2 Sacramento and No. 3 Memphis with their loss to the Kings on Saturday. Phoenix has a three-game lead over the No. 5 Clippers and No. 6 Warriors. With 15 games to play, it’s starting to feel like Phoenix is pretty much locked into the 4-seed.
- Predicted Seed: 4
- Current First Round Match: vs. Clippers
- Tiebreaker vs. Memphis: Grizzlies own via division leader
- Tiebreaker vs. Sacramento: Phoenix leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: The suns are tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: The Suns currently own a winning percentage through conferences
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
5. Los Angeles Clippers (36-33)
The Clippers are tied in the loss column with the No. 6 Warriors with one game remaining. They are just one loss away from the 7-9 seed.
- Predicted Seed: 5
- Current First Round Match: at the Suns
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: The wolves tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: The Mavericks currently own through conference record
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans lead 1-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Jazz tightens
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Clippers tightened
6. Golden State Warriors (35-33)
The Warriors jumped over the play-in line again with their win over the Bucks on Saturday. They are tied in the loss column with the No. 5 Clippers and have the tiebreaker secured, meaning they control their destiny for the 5 seed. But do they want it? It will likely mean a first-round matchup with the Suns.
- Predicted Seed: 6
- Current First Round Match: at the Grizzlies
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: The suns are tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: The warriors tightened
Play-In Tournament
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (34-34)
Minnesota falls below the game line due to Golden State’s win. They are tied in the loss column with the No. 8 Mavericks and No. 9 Lakers.
- Predicted Seed: 8
- Current First Round Match: vs. Mavericks (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: The wolves tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: The wolves tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Wolves currently hold the division record
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: The wolves tightened
8. Dallas Mavericks (34-34)
In their quest to climb above the play-in line, Dallas is one behind the No. 5 Clippers with the tiebreaker currently in their favor, and one behind the No. 6 Warriors with a head-to-head game to-head to remain.
- Predicted Seed: 7
- Current First Round Match: at Timberwolves (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Suns own conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: The wolves tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Dallas currently holds the through conference record
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Dallas leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Dallas leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Dallas leads 2-1 with one to play
9. Los Angeles Lakers (33-34)
The Lakers defeated Toronto on Friday to remain No. 9, tied in the loss column with the No. 8 Wolves and just one loss behind the 5-8 seed. They are still very much in the race to even climb above the play-in line as they wait for LeBron James to return.
- Predicted Seed: 9
- Current First Round Match: vs. Jazz (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Clippers tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Lakers lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Jazz lead 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Portland: The Blazers currently own the conference winning percentage
10. Utah Jazz (33-35)
Utah returns to the play-in with its win over the Hornets and New Orleans’ loss to OKC on Saturday.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Current First Round Match: at the Lakers (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Jazz Clinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Jazz lead 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: Thunder lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Portland: Blazers lead 2-1 with one to play
Outside Looking In
11. New Orleans Pelicans (32-35)
The Pelicans fall into the lottery for the time being with their loss to the Thunder on Saturday and Utah’s win over Charlotte.
- Predicted Seed: 10
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Pelicans lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: Mavericks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Jazz tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Los Angeles leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: The pelicans clucked
- Tiebreaker vs. Portland: Pelicans lead 2-1 with one to play
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (32-35)
The Thunder are one behind the No. 9 Lakers and No. 10 Pelicans.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: The pelicans clucked
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: OKC leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Portland: OKC bolted
The Blazers are one loss back of the final play-in spot, currently held by Utah, in which Portland plays one more time.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Blazers lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: The Blazers currently own the conference winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: The thunder tightened
