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The Clippers pulled out a big win in Dallas last night, keeping their lead for the 3 seed and keeping the door cracked for the 2 seed. However, the pressure is still on, as Houston won as well, and remains just one loss behind LA. It's going to be HUGE when the Clippers and Rockets face off in Houston on Saturday night.
In the lower half of the playoffs, the Trail Blazers won to hold on to their 5 seed, and the Mavericks of course lost to the Clippers in a very important game for them. Dallas is now a loss behind Phoenix for the 8 seed, with the Suns holding the tiebreaker.
All the same storylines are present that have been all week, as these nine teams scratch and claw for playoff positioning. Whoever enters a slump first could have a lot to lose.
The current standings heading into today's games:
| Seed | Team | Record | Games Remaining |
| 1 | San Antonio Spurs | 55-16 | 11 |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 52-19 | 11 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Clippers | 51-22 | 9 |
| 4 | Houston Rockets | 49-22 | 11 |
| 5 | Portland Trail Blazers | 46-27 | 9 |
| 6 | Golden State Warriors | 44-27 | 11 |
| 7 | Memphis Grizzlies | 43-28 | 11 |
| 8 | Phoenix Suns | 43-29 | 10 |
| - | Dallas Mavericks | 43-30 | 9 |
Western Conference Playoff contenders in action today:
Trail Blazers: @ Bulls, 5:00 PST
Thunder: vs. Kings, 5:00 PST
Spurs: @ Nuggets, 6:00 PST
Suns: vs. Knicks, 7:00 PST
Grizzlies @ Warriors: 7:30 PST