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The battle for playoff seeding in the Western Conference could determine several teams' fates this spring. With all eight playoff teams having looked very dangerous at some point this regular season, first-round matchups figure to go a long way in figuring out which franchises avoid upsets or put themselves in position to surprise NBA fans. There are many quality teams in the West, so seeding might mean less than the ideal matchup. Heading into the final day of the regular season, it appears that the Los Angeles Clippers will be without a star player as they determine whether they enter the playoffs with the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. With 3:23 remaining in the second quarter of Tuesday night's eventual 117-105 win over the Denver Nuggets, Clips All-Star power forward Blake Griffin earned a technical foul for swinging his right arm at Timofey Mozgov in an attempt to knock the ball away after the play had been whistled dead. Check it out below (via EOB ): This tech marked Griffin's 16th of the season, which triggers an automatic one-game suspension. (It also puts Griffin at the top of the league's technical foul leaders with Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins, who will also miss his team's season finale .) Unless the decision is rescinded on Wednesday — which is possible, given that the action didn't take place long after the referee's whistle — Griffin will miss the season finale at the Portland Trail Blazers that same night. With the Clippers one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the West's No. 2 seed, Griffin's absence would put the team at a disadvantage in pursuing that goal. Or maybe the team isn't so concerned with finishing third in the conference. As noted by Jovan Buha on Twitter, Griffin and teammate J.J. Redick will not travel to Portland . While their absences don't necessarily put the Clippers on the path to a loss, they do indicate that they're not going all out or waiting to see if Griffin will be made available. This decision makes some sense, because the No. 6 Golden State Warriors now appear like a substantially less imposing first-round opponent with center Andrew Bogut out indefinitely with a broken rib near his lung. No playoff series is a gimme, but any advantage could mean the difference in such a competitive conference. - - - - - - - Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @FreemanEric Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL and "Like" BDL on Facebook for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.
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