(7) San Antonio Spurs (38-29, 97.1%)
(8) Utah Jazz (37-29, 98.3%)
(9) Sacramento Kings (33-33, 4.8%)

It once looked like the race for the last few playoff berths in the Western Conference would be an epic showdown -- just a few weeks ago, this tier had 10 teams in it, vying for five playoff spots -- but now we're down to only three teams for the last two openings, and even that battle isn't all that compelling at this point.

The Sacramento Kings are hanging on by a thread, with a full four games separating them from the eighth-place Utah Jazz. They face both of the remaining teams in this tier late in the season, but it's hard to imagine that this race will still be going by then.