1 Los Angeles Lakers

49-12: 1st in West; 1st in Pacific Div.

Remaining schedule: 9 home, 12 road; 15 vs. contenders (teams within 4 games of their conference's No. 8 seed), 6 vs. spoilers; .477 strength of schedule (sixth-hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: March 11 at Toyota Center, April 3 at Staples Center.

Bottom line: Big lead, tied for fewest games left of any of the 9 vs. Western contenders and no more vs. Boston, Cleveland or Orlando. Life is good.

Jonathan Feigen predicts: No. 1 seed.

2 San Antonio Spurs

40-20: 2nd in West; 1st in Southwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 13 home, 9 road; 13 vs. contenders, 9 vs. spoilers; .480 strength of schedule (fifth-hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: March 14 at Toyota Center, March 22 at AT&T Center.

Bottom line: They started 1-4 with a double-OT win over lowly Minnesota. Now they're right where they always are with a favorable final 22.

Feigen predicts: No. 2 seed.

3 Denver Nuggets

40-22: 3rd in West; 1st in Northwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 11 home, 9 road; 10 vs. contenders, 10 vs. spoilers; .427 strength of schedule (easiest of the nine).

Against Rockets: Monday at Pepsi Center.

Bottom line: Their division lead, though up to 11/2 games with Thursday's home win over Portland, still looks tenuous. But they have the easiest stretch run of any contender.

Feigen predicts: No. 3 seed.

4 New Orleans Hornets

38-22: 4th in West; 2nd in Southwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 10 home, 12 road; 14 vs. contenders, 8 vs. spoilers; .465 strength of schedule (eighth- hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: March 16 at New Orleans Arena, April 13 at Toyota Center.

Bottom line: Now's the time to make a move: A soft East trip precedes a final stretch that ends with Phoenix, Dallas, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Feigen predicts: No. 6 seed.

5 HOUSTON Rockets

39-23: 5th in West; 3rd in Southwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 10 home, 10 road; 15 vs. contenders, 5 vs. spoilers; .542 strength of schedule (hardest of the nine).

Bottom line: Every Western contender awaits the Rockets in a brutal final 20-game stretch, including Phoenix, Denver and the Lakers as part of six games in nine days.

Feigen predicts: No. 7 seed.

6 UTAH Jazz

38-23: 6th in West; 2nd in Northwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 8 home, 13 road; 15 vs. contenders, 6 vs. spoilers; .513 strength of schedule (third-hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: March 24 at Energy Solutions Arena.

Bottom line: No team is hotter than the Jazz, but they're not a great road team and play 13 of their last 20 on the road and have seven back-to-backs.

Feigen predicts: No. 4 seed.

7 PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 38-23: 7th in West; 3rd in Northwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 11 home, 10 road; 14 vs. contenders, 7 vs. spoilers; .493 strength of schedule (fourth-hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: April 5 at Toyota Center.

Bottom line: This spot is anything but safe with a young team. They play five back-to-backs, and the second nights are all on the road.

Feigen predicts: No. 5 seed.

8 Dallas Mavericks

37-25: 8th in West; 4th in Southwest Div.

Remaining schedule: 10 home, 10 road; 14 vs. contenders, 6 vs. spoilers; .515 strength of schedule (second- hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: April 15 at American Airlines Center.

Bottom line: They'll have to improve against the West to hang on to this spot. Only the Blazers have a worse intraconference record than Dallas (19-17) out of this group.

Feigen predicts: No. 8 seed.

9 Phoenix Suns

34-27: 9th in West; 2nd in Pacific Div.

Remaining schedule: 11 home, 10 road; 12 vs. contenders, 9 vs. spoilers; .477 strength of schedule (7th hardest of the nine).

Against Rockets: Today at Toyota Center, April 1 at U.S. Airways Arena.

Bottom line: The poor trip to Florida gave the rest of the West a cushion, but a favorable schedule down the stretch could make for an interesting race for eighth starting tonight at Toyota Center.

Feigen predicts: Won't make playoffs.