Predicting Clippers' Record and Seed at the End of the Season

The NBA regular season is coming to a close as teams position themselves for the postseason or the draft. The Los Angeles Clippers are currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference with a 36-36 record. After a tough four-game losing streak, the Clippers have bounced back with two straight wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks.

LA is a lock for the play-in tournament, but where they'll be seeded is important. If the Clippers finish as the seventh or eighth seed, they would only have to win one game to advance to the playoffs and take on the two seed.

Currently, the Phoenix Suns are seventh (40-32, 4 GB), the Portland Trail Blazers are ninth (36-37), and the Golden State Warriors are tenth (34-38).

Predicting Clippers' Record Over Final 10 Games

LA has a favorable schedule over the final 10 games of the season. Seven of the 10 games are against teams with a record below .500. However, the Clippers are dealing with a lot of injuries as Kawhi Leonard is playing through an ankle sprain. Bennedict Mathurin has missed four straight games with a toe injury, and John Collins is also nursing an ankle sprain.

Wednesday, March 25th vs Toronto Raptors: L Friday, March 27th @ Indiana Pacers: W Sunday, March 29th @ Milwaukee Bucks: W Tuesday, March 31st vs Portland Trail Blazers: W Thursday, April 2nd vs San Antonio Spurs: L Sunday, April 5th @ Sacramento Kings: W Tuesday, April 7th vs Dallas Mavericks: W Wednesday, April 8th vs Oklahoma City Thunder: L Friday, April 10th @ Portland Trail Blazers: L Sunday, April 12th vs Golden State Warriors: W

Final Record Prediction: 42-40

If LA is without Collins or Mathurin, it may be challenging to pick up a win against the Raptors. However, the Clippers have played well at home with a 20-15 record, which should bode well given six of these last 10 games are at the Intuit Dome.

The biggest games for LA will come against the Trail Blazers. Portland has been playing a good stretch of basketball led by All-Star Deni Avdija. Those two matchups could determine the eighth and ninth seeds in the Western Conference. A split wouldn't be the worst outcome, but the Clippers have to take care of the inferior teams left on the schedule.

Predicting Clippers' Seed

As noted earlier, the four play-in teams will likely be the Suns, Clippers, Trail Blazers, and Warriors. All of these teams are dealing with injuries. Phoenix is without Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams, Portland lost Shaedon Sharpe, and Golden State is missing Steph Curry and Moses Moody.

Seed Projection: 8th Seed

The Suns recently broke a five-game losing streak, but it'll probably be tough to catch them despite having a tough schedule. Portland has a favorable slate ahead, but a split with the Clippers could keep them in the ninth spot.

LA has a talented roster at full strength, but they need to get healthy ahead of the play-in tournament. It's a veteran group with lots of playoff experience, and most teams wouldn't want to see this Clippers team in the postseason.