NBA Western Conference Playoff Picture: Predicting Full Seeds and Final Bracket

Everywhere you look in the NBA's Western Conference, there is a heated playoff race set to take place inside the Orlando bubble. 

The top two teams for the No. 1 seed, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, meet Thursday in what will be the first of several head-to-head battles that will help determine playoff seeding. 

Denver and Utah, the next two teams in the standings, are scheduled to meet in one of their eight seeding games, which could flip the balance of power for the No. 3 seed. 

Six teams enter Orlando in the hunt for the No. 8 seed, but a few sides could be put at a disadvantage early through head-to-head matchups.

Western Conference Predictions

1. Los Angeles Lakers

2. Los Angeles Clippers

3. Utah

4. Denver

5. Houston

6. Oklahoma City

7. Dallas

8. New Orleans

Even if the Clippers beat the Lakers on Thursday, the top team in the West should feel safe in its quest to remain atop the standings. 

LeBron James and Co. need to win half of their games in Orlando to make the top spot out of reach for the Clippers, who are 5.5 games behind.

To achieve that, the Lakers have to beat a handful of squads already locked into the West playoffs, like Oklahoma City, Houston, Utah and Denver. 

The Clippers have fewer games between themselves and their closest competition, but they could have a fairly easy path to securing the No. 2 seed. 

After playing the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard and Co. take on New Orleans, Phoenix, Dallas, Portland and Brooklyn. If they earn anywhere from three to five wins out of that set, the Clippers should go into their August 12 meeting with Denver with the No. 2 seed in hand. 

The Nuggets should be more concerned about the Jazz in the fight for the No. 3 seed than the Clippers. 

Utah will play San Antonio twice and Dallas around its August 8 clash with the Nuggets, and if the two teams are still a game or two apart, it could overtake Denver with its weaker schedule. Denver has the unenviable task of closing with the Jazz, Lakers, Clippers and Toronto Raptors. 

Houston could be in a similar situation as Utah in its hunt for the No. 5 seed against Oklahoma City. The two teams have identical records.

James Harden's squad could take advantage of four games versus teams in seventh place or worse in the West; the Thunder only play two of those squads. The two teams will not face each other before the playoffs.

Dallas could make up ground on Houston if it wins the July 31 clash between the two Texas franchises, but if it does not, the Mavericks could be stuck with the No. 7 seed. They have a seven-game advantage over Memphis. 

The Grizzlies will be involved in the playoff race with the most drama, as five teams within six games will be chasing them for the No. 8 seed. 

To complicate matters, the Grizzlies have to finish more than four games ahead of each of those squads to avoid a play-in series. 

Memphis can put distance from Portland, New Orleans and San Antonio with wins in its first three games, but its finishing slate should be worrisome. Utah, Oklahoma City, Toronto, Boston and Milwaukee await on the back end of Memphis' schedule, and that lineup could prevent it from creating the necessary space. 

New Orleans is in the best position to pounce for the final playoff spot, as it faces six consecutive opponents in the races for eighth in the East and West.

During that stretch, the Pelicans can eliminate San Antonio and Sacramento from contention directly and can close the gap on Memphis on August 3. 

If the Pelicans force a play-in series, they should have the advantage over Memphis. They won both regular-season meetings with the Grizzlies by double digits and could enter with a wealth of confidence from their easy schedule.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.