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Western Conference Standings Watch: April 7th and 8th

As we head into the 2014 NBA playoffs, the final games of the season hold a lot of weight as seeding battles come down the wire.

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

With Oklahoma City's loss in Phoenix last night, the door to the #2 seed, which previously seemed closed altogether, has opened slightly.  The Clippers are still 2 games behind the Thunder in the loss column, meaning that to do the very unlikely and steal the 2 seed, the Clippers will need 3 things:

  1. To win out.  The Clippers essentially have to go 4-0.
  2. Beat Oklahoma City on Wednesday.  This goes without saying at part of #1, but it's a crucial game as it secures LA's tiebreaker and gives OKC an additional loss.
  3. Oklahoma City must lose one of their other games.  They play in Indiana, against the Pelicans twice, and against the Kings and Pistons.
In the bottom half of the playoff race, Memphis lost last night to San Antonio, but otherwise the race remains as tight as ever, with the only sizeable gap remaining between Golden State at 6 and the Dallas/Phoenix/Memphis combination.  Ideally, the Clippers will either face Portland in a 3-6 matchup, or Dallas in a 2-7 matchup.

The standings heading into tomorrow nights games (there are no NBA games tonight):

Seed Team Record Games Remaining
1 San Antonio Spurs 60-17 6
2 Oklahoma City Thunder 55-21 6
3 Los Angeles Clippers 55-23 4
4 Houston Rockets 51-25 6
5 Portland Trail Blazers 50-28 4
6 Golden State Warriors 48-29 5
7 Dallas Mavericks 47-31 4
8 Phoenix Suns 46-31 5
- Memphis Grizzlies 45-32 5

Tuesday's games:

Heat: vs Nets, 4:30 PST

Spurs: @ Timberwolves, 5:00 PST

Mavericks: @ Jazz, 6:00 PST

Thunder: @ Kings, 7:30 PST

Rockets: @ Lakers, 7:30 PST