by The Western Conference playoff race is a beautiful mess right now. Every night the seeds change everywhere. The Lakers won on Tuesday and fell in the standings. All you can do is stay updated with current seeds, matchups, tie-bake scenarios and predictions every morning. We got you covered.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the Western Conference playoff situation and play-in games entering play on Wednesday. This post will be updated daily throughout the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are set.
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 four straight and their once firm grip on the top seed is beginning to loosen. With 13 games to play, the Nuggets lead the No. 2 Grizzlies by four effective games with the tiebreaker secured and lead the No. 3 Kings by four in the loss column with one game remaining. So it’s not doom and gloom. But it’s going in the wrong direction.
- 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
Memphis leads the No. 3 Kings by one in the loss column.
- Predicted Seed: 2
- Current First Round Match: vs. Timberwolves-Thunder Play-in winner
- 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
3. Sacramento Kings (40-27)
Sacramento has an outside shot at catching Denver for first place. They trail the Nuggets by four in the losing column with 15 games to play. One of them is the clash with the Nuggets, who will also decide the season tiebreaker.
- Predicted Seed: 3
- Current First Round Match: vs. Clippers
- 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
4. Phoenix Suns (37-32)
The Suns lost to Milwaukee on Tuesday and are now just one game behind the No. 5 Warriors and No. 6 Clippers.
- Predicted Seed: 4
- Current First Round Match: against Warriors
- 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. Golden State Warriors (36-33)
The Warriors trail the No. 4 Suns by an emotional two-game sweep as Phoenix swept the tiebreaker. Golden State is tied with the No. 6 Clippers with one game remaining.
- Predicted Seed: 6
- Current First Round Match: at the Suns
- 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
6. Los Angeles Clippers (36-33)
The Clippers are tied in the loss column with the No. 5 Warriors with one game remaining. They trail the No. 4 Suns by just one with a head-to-head match remaining.
- Predicted Seed: 5
- Current First Round Match: at Kings
- 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 tight
- Tiebreaker vs. Lakers: Clippers tightened
Play-In Tournament
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (35-34)
Minnesota defeated Atlanta on Monday and is one game up in the loss column with the 8-10 seed.
- Predicted Seed: 9
- Current First Round Match: vs. Thunder (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. Oklahoma City Thunder (34-35)
The Thunder are in a three-way tie with the No. 9 Mavericks and No. 10 Lakers. In tiebreaker scenarios involving more than two teams, the nod, in turn, goes to the team with the best winning percentage in all matches between the teams involved.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- Current First Round Match: at Timberwolves (Play-in)
- 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
9. Dallas Mavericks (34-35)
See section No. 8 Thunder for a three-way tie.
- Predicted Seed: 7
- Current First Round Match: vs. Lakers (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
10. Los Angeles Lakers (34-35)
See section No. 8 Thunder for a three-way tie.
- Predicted Seed: 8
- Current First Round Match: in Mavericks (Play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs. Clippers: Clippers tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. Timberwolves: The wolves tightened
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: The Lakers embraced
- 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
Outside Looking In
11. Utah Jazz (33-36)
Utah dropped a tight one at Miami on Monday and sits one loss out of a play-in spot.
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- 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
12. New Orleans Pelicans (33-36)
SportsLine projections still have the Pelicans slipping into the play-in.
- 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: The Lakers embraced
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: The pelicans clucked
- Tiebreaker vs. Portland: The pelicans clucked
The Blazers are fading, having lost seven of their last 10.
- 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: The pelicans clucked
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: The thunder tightened
