Predicting the 8 NBA Playoff seeds from the Western Conference

#7 Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic has been among the NBA's standout stars this season

The Dallas Mavericks have had to deal with absences to Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis since the turn of the year, and have fallen to seventh following a sequence of six wins in 11 games. An underwhelming home record (16-14) will probably have enough of an impact to halt the Mavs climbing up the standings between now and April, although, with a 35-23 record, they are still well ahead of where they expected to be at this stage season.

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#8 Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard could help the Trail Blazers to sneak into the postseason

After reaching the 2019 NBA Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers have been hugely disappointing this season, and face a significant task to secure the final playoff spot ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies.

However, Portland's experience will play a significant role over the final weeks of the season as pressure starts to build on a young Grizzlies roster, and the Blazers could also get Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins back from injury. With Damian Lillard also enjoying a career-year, Portland should have enough quality to pick pip the Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans to the final playoff spot, and they could prove to be a tough first-round playoff opponent.