by The Clippers withstood a 50-point barrage from Stephen Curry on Wednesday to beat the Warriors and jump into the West’s No. 5 seed. Golden State fell to No. 6.
The Lakers didn’t play Anthony Davis in the series and it cost them a loss to the Rockets, leaving Los Angeles tied in the loss column with No. 11 Utah and No. 12 New Orleans.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the Western Conference playoff situation and play-in games entering play on Thursday. 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
4. Phoenix Suns (37-32)
- 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. Los Angeles Clippers (37-33)
- Predicted Seed: 5
- Current First Round Match: at Kings
- Tiebreaker vs. Phoenix: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: The Clippers lead the division in winning percentage
- 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 (36-34)
- 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: The Clippers lead the division in winning percentage
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: The warriors tightened
Play-In Tournament
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (35-35)
- 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 (35-35)
- Predicted seed: 9
- 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
- Predicted Seed: 10
- Current First Round Match: vs. Lakers (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
10. Los Angeles Lakers (34-36)
- Predicted Seed: 7
- Current First Round Match: in Thunder (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)
- 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)
- Predicted Seed: Lottery
- 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
- 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
