The Portland Trail Blazers host the LA Clippers in a game that will likely decide the 8th seed in the West. Get the latest injury updates on Shaedon Sharpe, betting odds, and key matchups.

It’s more a matter of when, not if, the Lakers fall down to the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference it seems. There hasn’t been much going right for the Lakers over the last week and Monday night was no different. For one, the Lakers lost to the Thunder, which didn’t help their own case in the playoff race, even if it was an expected result.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adrian Kempe had two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings moved into a playoff spot with a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Joel Armia and Trevor Moore also scored,

Oklahoma City and San Antonio will be on opposite sides of the West playoff bracket as the top two seeds, but the Nuggets will have to end up on a side with one of them. (One half of the bracket includes Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 8. The other side includes Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 7.)

It is the third time in five seasons, and first since 2023, that the Avalanche finished as the top team in the conference.

BOTTOM LINE: Collin Gillespie and the Phoenix Suns take on LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference play. The Lakers have gone 9-7 against division opponents. Los Angeles scores 116.4 points and has outscored opponents by 1.2 points per game.

Houston and Los Angeles have already clinched a playoff berth, but the Rockets could snatch the fourth seed from the Lakers, securing home-court advantage.

The South Bay Lakers saw their season come to an end as they fell to the Stockton Kings in the G League Western Conference Finals.

The NBA announced on Thursday that Luka Doncic was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in March. Doncic averaged a league-high 37.5 points (49.2%

Sacramento Kings rookie Maxime Raynaud was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month as he continued his breakout rookie year.

With the regular season winding down to its last few games, a lot of talk has focused on the two best teams in the Western Conference, the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder and their up-and-coming rivals,