NBA Playoff Race Update: The Detroit Pistons Are on Life Support

Western Conference - Sure Things

(1) Houston Rockets (61-14, clinched)
(2) Golden State Warriors (54-21, clinched)
(3) Portland Trail Blazers (46-29, 100.0%)

The Western Conference, unlike the East, is a knock-down-drag-out war, with only three and a half games separating the fourth-place San Antonio Spurs and the 10th-place Denver Nuggets. As a result of that jumble of teams on the bubble, we still only have three sure things on this side of the playoff bracket.

The Rockets are locked into the top seed with seven games on the Warriors, and the Warriors are locked into second with eight games on the Blazers. Portland still hasn't clinched their playoff berth, but with two and a half games separating them and the rest of the pack, they're starting to have a pretty likely claim on third. One way or another, they became only the third team in the West that our algorithm believes has a 100.0% chance of making the postseason this week.