by The Golden State Warriors won their eighth straight home game on Monday, beating the Phoenix Suns to move up to the 5th-ranked West. The Warriors are now two games behind Phoenix with 13 losses to play, although that lead is effectively three since Phoenix secured the tiebreaker.
Also on Monday in the Western Conference: The Grizzlies jumped Sacramento back into the No. 2 seed, and the Lakers are back in the play-in…for now.
Below is a comprehensive snapshot of the state of the Western Conference playoff and play-in races that come into play on Tuesday. This post will be updated daily for the remainder of the regular season or until all seeds are won.
Reminder of how the play-in tournament works: #7 plays against #8 and #9 against #10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the #7, while the loser plays against the winner of the 9-10 game for the #8.
READ: Eastern Conference playoff image
NOTE: Developed by predictive data engineer Stephen Oh, our SportsLine model simulates the entire season 10,000 times to produce the most unbiased and accurate predictions imaginable.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Nuggets have an effective five-game lead in the losing column over the No. 2 Grizzlies with the tiebreaker secured.
- Projected Seed: 1
- Current first round encounter: open
- Tiebreakers vs. Memphis: Denver won
- Tiebreakers vs. Sacramento: Season series tied 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Phoenix: Denver leads the season series with two to play 2-0
Memphis overtook Sacramento, which lost to Milwaukee on Monday, by beating Dallas.
- Projected Seed: 2
- Current first round encounter: vs. Timberwolves-Mavericks Play-In Winner
- Tiebreaker vs. Denver: Nuggets have taken hold
- Tiebreakers vs. Sacramento: Kings currently own a Via conference record
- Tiebreaker vs Phoenix: Grizzlies own over the department head
3. Kings of Sacramento (40-27)
Sacramento falls behind Memphis after falling to Milwaukee on Monday. Luckily, the No. 4 Suns also lost, leaving the Kings with a cushion with one head-to-head remaining.
- Projected Seed: 3
- Current first round encounter: vs Clippers
- Tiebreaker vs. Denver: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers vs. Memphis: Kings currently own the win percentage over the conference
- 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 (37-31)
The Suns fell to Golden State on Monday and lead the No. 5 Warriors now with just two points in the loss column, although that lead is effectively three since Phoenix sealed the tiebreaker.
- Projected Seed: 4
- Current first round encounter: against warriors
- Tiebreakers vs. Memphis: Grizzlies own over the department head
- Tiebreakers vs. Sacramento: Phoenix leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Suns have settled
- Tiebreakers vs. Timberwolves: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: Suns currently own the winning percentage over the conference
- Tiebreakers vs. Clippers: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
5. Warrior of the Golden State (36-33)
The Warriors are back at No. 5 in the nightly round of musical chairs, the Western Conference mid-seed playoff race. They trail the No. 4 Suns in the loss column by an effective three games with 13 remaining.
- Projected Seed: 6
- Current first round encounter: at suns
- Tiebreaker vs Phoenix: Suns have settled
- Tiebreakers vs. Timberwolves: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers 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: Warriors clung
6. Los Angeles Clippers (36-33)
The Clippers are in the loss column with the No. 5 Warriors tied with one matchup remaining. They are just two behind the No. 4 Suns in the loss column, with a head-to-head match remaining.
- Projected Seed: 5
- Current first round encounter: at suns
- Tiebreaker vs Phoenix: Suns lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Warriors lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers vs. Timberwolves: Wolves clung
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: Mavericks currently own a Via conference record
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans lead 1-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Jazz clamped
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Clippers clipped
Play-In Tournament
7.Minnesota Timberwolves (35-34)
Minnesota defeated Atlanta on Monday and is a game up in the losing column in the 8-11 seeds.
- Projected Seed: 9
- Current first round encounter: 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: Wolves clung
- Tiebreakers vs. Clippers: Wolves clung
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Wolves currently own a via division record
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Wolves clung
8. Dallas Mavericks (34-35)
In their quest to climb above the play-in line, Dallas is now two behind the No. 6 Clippers with the tiebreaker currently in their favor and two behind the No. 5 Warriors with a remaining neck and neck -Match.
- Projected Seed: 7
- Current first round encounter: at Timberwolves (play-in)
- Tiebreaker vs Phoenix: Suns owns the winning percentage of the conference
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers vs. Timberwolves: Wolves clung
- Tiebreakers vs. Clippers: Dallas currently holds a Via 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
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Dallas leads 2-1 with one to play
9.Los Angeles Lakers (33-35)
The Lakers currently sit in a three-way tie with the No. 10 Pelicans and the No. 11 Thunder. In tiebreaker scenarios involving more than two teams, the nod goes in turn to the team with the highest win percentage in all head- to-head matches among the participating teams.
- Projected Seed: 8th
- Current first round encounter: vs. Pelicans (Play-in)
- Tiebreakers vs. Clippers: Clippers clipped
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Lakers lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Jazz leads 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Portland: Blazers currently own the winning percentage over the conference
10. New Orleans Pelicans (33-35)
See the Lakers section for the three-way tie breakdown.
- Projected Seed: 10
- Tiebreaker vs. Golden State: Pelicans lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers vs. Timberwolves: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Dallas: Mavericks lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Jazz clamped
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Los Angeles leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: Pelicans flinched
- Tiebreaker vs Portland: Pelicans flinched
Look inside outside
11. Oklahoma City Thunder (33-35)
See the Lakers section for the three-way tie breakdown.
- Projected Seed: lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans flinched
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: OKC leads 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Tie 1-1 with one to play
- Tiebreaker vs Portland: OKC clung
12. Utah Jazz (33-36)
Utah lost a narrow margin in Miami on Monday and sits one loss away from a play-in spot.
- Projected Seed: lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Jazz Clinted
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Jazz leads 2-0 with two to play
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: Thunder lead 2-1 with a play
- Tiebreaker vs Portland: Blazers lead 2-1 with one to play
The Blazers are fading after losing seven of their last 10.
- Projected Seed: lottery
- Tiebreaker vs. Utah: Blazers lead 2-1 with one to play
- Tiebreakers vs. Lakers: Blazers currently own the winning percentage over the conference
- Tiebreaker vs. New Orleans: Pelicans flinched
- Tiebreaker vs. OKC: thunder sounded
