Clippers Have Their Biggest Game of the Season on Tuesday

The Los Angeles Clippers still have seven more games left in the regular season, but they are playing the most important one on Tuesday that could determine their postseason seed. After winning five straight games, the Clippers put themselves in an excellent position to firmly be in the driver's seat in their pursuit of a playoff spot. They host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, and a win against them would all but clinch the No. 8 seed for the Clippers.

A win against the Blazers will increase the Clippers' lead for the eighth seed to 2.5 games and give them the tiebreaker over Portland. With six games left in the regular season after tonight, that will be too large a gap for the Blazers to come back from.

Clippers-Blazers Is the Most Important Game of the Season for Both Teams

The Clippers play two tanking teams, the Sacramento Kings and the Dallas Mavericks, the rest of the way. It's hard to imagine them losing to either team, especially considering how well they have been playing lately. Plus, the Clippers will have four of their remaining six games at the Intuit Dome, giving them another significant advantage.

The Blazers, on the other hand, are going on the road to take on Denver and San Antonio next week. Given that both the Nuggets and the Spurs will still be trying to win for seeding purposes, Portland will be the underdog in both matchups. That will be two of their remaining five games after tonight. So, if they lose to the Clippers, they almost certainly have to win out the rest of the way to have a chance at the No. 8 seed.

Technically, the Clippers still have a chance to overtake the Phoenix Suns for the No. 7 seed, but that will be an uphill battle as the Suns currently have a three-game lead over the Clippers.

The difference between the seventh and the eighth seed is much smaller than the one between the No. 8 and No. 9 anyway. The seventh and eighth seeds play each other in the Play-In tournament, hosted by the seventh seed. Whoever wins that game will earn the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The loser will face the winner of the No. 9-No. 10 matchup.

So, if the Clippers are in the top eight, they will have two chances to win one game to make the playoffs. They should like their chances to beat the Suns in Phoenix, but even if they come up short, they will have a "win, and you are in" game against the Blazers or the Warriors at home.

To give them that advantage in the Play-In and earn that well-deserved playoff spot, the Clippers have to take care of Portland on Tuesday. LA has done an excellent job clawing all the way to 39-36 for the season. Now, they have to make sure to finish strong.