This team will end up the 7 seed between the Lakers, Mavericks, Blazers

With the postseason looming and only eight games...between the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Portland Trailblazers...

With the postseason looming with only eight games left in the regular season, we have a little bit of a logjam in the Western Conference between the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Portland Trail Blazers. All three are tied for the conference's 5th seed, and they are all looking to avoid the dreaded 7th place finish this year. Why?

Because this year, the NBA is holding a tournament between the 7th-10th seeds for the last two playoff slots in each conference.

Now, the Eastern Conference has a bit of a clearer playoff picture, with the Boston Celtics a game behind the Miami Heat for that coveted 6th seed and the safety it brings. But in the West, it's a sheer race between the aforementioned 5th seeds to see who gets to rest easy come the postseason, and who will be fighting for their lives.

The all-important question: who draws the short straw? Let's break it down.

Portland Trail Blazers

Let's get the easy bit out of the way first. Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers are not bottoming out with the 7th seed. This late in the season, they are riding a very nice hot streak with some legitimate wins against the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Boston Celtics.

Plus, there is a golden rule in the NBA to never count out Steph Curry. That same rule applies to Damian Lillard, especially when he and his team are on a hot streak.

Now, Portland has the following teams left on their schedule: the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, and Denver Nuggets.

Three immediately stand out as easy wins: the Hawks are beatable by shoot-out, Cleveland is no good, and Houston somehow is even worse than the Cavaliers. However, Utah and Phoenix are interesting due to the timing of these games: both could be resting stars for large sections of each game as the top two seeds in the conference, while Portland will be playing its hardest. You can sort of count the Nuggets in that category too.

Which leaves us with the Lakers and Spurs, who will both be interesting. Right now, it's likely that LeBron James will still be working himself back into form, so the Lakers are vulnerable, while the Spurs will pose problems as a desperate 10th seed.

Prediction: 5-3

Dallas Mavericks

Of the three teams, Dallas has the easiest schedule for these last eight games by far. They get the Miami Heat, Nets, Cavs twice, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Toronto Raptors, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

If current trends hold and the Raptors slip further away from the East's 10th seed, this schedule boasts at least five automatic wins, and possibly six. The Cavs have nothing to play for, the Nets aren't healthy enough to check or keep up with Luka, the Pelicans are already going fishing, and the Timberwolves are the Cavs of the west.

If Doncic can avoid being suspended, Dallas is ready to go on an absolute tear, especially since they're motivated to avoid the play-in tournament and don't have to face either Portland or LA.

Prediction: 6-2

Los Angeles Lakers

Let's be honest with ourselves: this team is in the most danger of the three, by far. What Dallas and Portland lack in talent or size they make up for in chemistry, which the Lakers are starting from square one in.

Drummond is the most clogging big LeBron has ever had to play with, and losing or not, this team has had to learn to be without James and Anthony Davis. This team will take time to gel.

Which, ironically, is probably why LeBron and AD got back so quickly, despite the fact that probably neither are operating at 100%. This team needs to gel before the elimination games start, which is more important than seeding, despite LeBron's complaint.

Speaking of which, the Lakers easily face the toughest schedule of the three teams in the mix for that seventh seed. They get the Nuggets, Clippers, Blazers, Suns, New York Knicks, Rockets, Indiana Pacers, and Pelicans.

The timing of when they draw the Nuggets is bad, since they're probably still trying to win a few more games before resting. The Clippers, Suns, and Knicks all have something to prove against LA, while the Blazers are more motivated to stay away from the play-in tournament. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Add one final wrinkle into this: LeBron James doesn't really care about seeding. He cares about how his team functions at peak capacity, because when that happens, they can smack down any team in the league. It can even be argued that he intentionally doesn't play hard to open up series' so that he and his teammates can get a good look of the land on how their opponent operates.

A LeBron James team operates like Muhammad Ali at his peak: they play rope-a-dope. And while the analysts and pundits declare them dead (remember the bubble?), they strike. All of the other teams at the top have something to prove, and arguably need those higher seeds. Not so much for LeBron and the Lakers.

So, combining that lack of motivation, needing to gel, and tough schedule, these Lakers are going to be the most likely out of this three-way tie to drop to the 7th seed in the West.

Prediction: 4-4

Final Prediction: Los Angeles Lakers end up as the 7th seed, enter the play-in tournament