Breakdown of Tiebreakers in Western Conference Playoff Race

With only three weeks remaining in the NBA regular season schedule, the bottom half of the Western Conference playoff standings are still a jumble. The Blazers, Rockets, Mavericks, and Jazz are all separated by only 1.5 games as they jockey for the final three playoff spots. The Grizzlies currently lead the pack in the fifth seed with a 4.5 game lead over the sixth seeded Blazers, but have suffered a number of injuries and could still slip.

Following are the standings, remaining games between these five teams, and tiebreaker scenarios:

Portland owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against Utah and has lost the tiebreaker with Dallas. Because the head-to-head series are tied, if Portland ends the season with the same record as Memphis or Houston the tie will be broken by conference record.

Three way ties are broken by winning percentage in games between the tied teams. Portland owns the three-way tie against Memphis and Utah, and has already lost it against Dallas and Memphis as well as against Dallas and Houston. Portland can also win the tiebreaker against Houston and Utah if the Rockets lose to the Jazz on Mar. 23.

If Portland, Houston, and Memphis finish the season in a tie, it will be broken by their winning percentage against conference opponents.

Full playoff tie-breaking procedures can be found here.