20. Portland Trail Blazers (20): LaMarcus Aldridge is doing everything in his power to keep the Blazers’ playoff hopes alive, but the 3.5-game gap might be too big to bridge with so many road games ahead of them.
19. Denver Nuggets (14): They’ve managed only 15 wins against Western foes this season, putting them ahead of only the Kings and Hornets in that category. With that being said, they’re lucky to still be in possession of the eighth seed.
18. Philadelphia 76ers (13): After a strong start to their season, the 76ers are plummeting down the standings. After an embarrassing Easter-day loss to the Celtics, they can really feel the Bucks breathing down their necks for the final seed in the East.
17. Dallas Mavericks (12): It’s becoming more and more apparent that this isn’t the same Dallas team that crushed the Lakers on their way to rings last season. They’ve won only four of their last ten games and keep getting routed against average teams. Inconsistency could be the death of this team.
16. Utah Jazz (17): Not that the Jazz haven’t played well as of late, but their inconsistency and tough schedule this upcoming week makes it hard to believe that they’ll get any closer to securing a playoff spot.
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