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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:
- To win out. The Clippers essentially have to go 4-0.
- 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.
- 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