Standings Update: Blazers, Rockets Catching Up To Nuggets

With eight days left in the NBA season, the Western Conference standings could be turned upside-down with just a couple key games. Portland has vacillated between the 3rd and 4th seeds for weeks, but as the season winds down, things are getting tight. It’s time for a daily standings update.

Last night’s results

Oklahoma City 119, Los Angeles Lakers 103
San Antonio Spurs 117, Atlanta Hawks 111
Houston Rockets 130, Sacramento Kings 105
Golden State Warriors 116, Denver Nuggets 102

Current Standings

Golden State now has a 2-game lead for the first seed. So we’ll ignore them.

With last night’s Houston win combined with Denver’s loss, the gap between the 2 and 3 seeds is down to 1.5 games. And Portland is right behind both of them.

2. Nuggets: 51-26
3. Rockets: 50-28 (1.5 games back)
4. Blazers: 49-28 (2 games back)
5. Jazz: 47-30 (4 games back)

Tiebreaker questions? Eric Griffith has you covered. And here are the full standings.

The Jazz cannot be counted out, despite being 2 games behind Portland, due to their remaining schedule.

Tonight’s Games

Spurs at Nuggets (6:00 pm PT)
Grizzlies at Blazers (7:00 pm PT)
Rockets at Clippers (7:30 pm PT)

What Can Happen Tonight

Lots of changes are possible. The Rockets and Blazers could pull to within 0.5 and 1 game of the Nuggets, if Denver loses and Portland/Houston win. But these games are essential to the Spurs and Clippers, too: San Antonio is trying to avoid the 8th seed and a first-round date with the Warriors, while the Clippers hope to win out and maybe steal home court in the first round.

But the Spurs, Rockets, and Nuggets are all on the second night of a back-to-back.

Remaining Schedule

Denver Nuggets:

vs. San Antonio Spurs (Apr 3, B2B)
vs. Portland Trail Blazers (Apr 5)
at Portland Trail Blazers (Apr 7)
at Utah Jazz (Apr 9)
vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (Apr 10, B2B)

Portland Trail Blazers:

vs. Memphis Grizzlies (Apr 3)
at Denver Nuggets (Apr 5)
vs. Denver Nuggets (Apr 7)
at Los Angeles Lakers (Apr 9)
vs. Sacramento Kings (Apr 10, B2B)

Houston Rockets:

at Los Angeles Clippers (Apr 3, B2B)
vs. New York Knicks (Apr 5)
vs. Phoenix Suns (Apr 7)
at Oklahoma City (Apr 9)

Utah Jazz:

at Phoenix Suns (Apr 3)
vs. Sacramento Kings (Apr 5)
at Los Angeles Lakers (Apr 7)
vs. Denver Nuggets (Apr 9)
at Los Angeles Clippers (Apr 10, B2B)