NBA Playoffs 2020: Chances Grizzlies, Blazers, Pelicans Or Spurs Get West's No.8 Seed

There is one major question in the Western Conference for the remainder of the NBA regular season: what team will earn the No.8 seed?

While the exact order is in flux, the first seven playoff teams in the West are virtually set in stone.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the No.1 seed and likely to stay there until the postseason. The Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets have a chance to have home-court advantage in the first round. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks would need historic collapses to miss the playoffs.

The eighth and final playoff spot could end up going to one of several teams.

The Memphis Grizzlies exit the 2020 All-Star break as the No.8 seed with a four-game lead for the West’s last postseason berth. They will also finish the season with the most difficult schedule in the NBA, according to Tankathon.

FanDuel Sportsbook gives the Grizzlies +165 odds to make the playoffs. Memphis has -195 odds to miss the postseason.

Memphis point guard Ja Morant is the odds-on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. He leads all first-year players that have played more than 10 games with 17.6 points and 7.1 assists per game.

The Portland Trail Blazers are the No.9 seed and four games behind Memphis. Portland has +200 odds to reach the playoffs and -250 odds to finish outside of the top eight.

The No.10 seed San Antonio Spurs are five games behind Memphis. They are considered long shots to make the playoffs with +500 odds. San Antonio is given -700 odds to miss the postseason, per FanDuel.

The No.11 seed New Orleans Pelicans trail the Grizzlies by 5.5 games and the Blazers by 1.5 games. But the Pelicans are far from long shots to get the No.8 seed. New Orleans has +250 playoff odds and -310 odds to finish ninth or worse in the West.

Zion Williamson has played like an All-Star during his brief NBA career. He’s averaging 22.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 57.6% from the field in 10 games. The Pelicans are 5-5 when Williamson plays.

New Orleans finishes the season with the NBA’s easiest schedule. Portland has the 25th most difficult schedule remaining.

The Blazers were beaten by the Pelicans and Grizzlies in consecutive games heading into the All-Star break. Damian Lillard suffered a groin injury in Portland’s last contest, and it’s unclear when he’ll return to the court.

Lillard is averaging 29.5 points, 7.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.